


Coming Home

by CaraAkame



Series: Equivalent Exchange [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 05:10:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 44,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7963711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaraAkame/pseuds/CaraAkame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Promised Day has passed and the Elric brothers travel the continent while Team Mustang aid Fuhrer Grumman in the restructure of Ishval.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Promised Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is my baby, be kind to my trash soul also enjoy this please!  
> This is still a work in progress, so if you have suggestions as to where you'd like the story to go, feel free to tell me in the comments!
> 
> Beta'd by KateTheGoddess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Father has risen out of his lair and everybody fights for their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by KateTheGoddess.
> 
> This has some of the original dialogue from the Anime (and Manga).
> 
> Enjoy!

Roy can’t see anymore, the Truth took that from him, but he can still fight. He still has his hearing, and he has Riza by his side. He can feel himself rising on what must be a platform. He can hear Fullmetal yelling his head off, though he has no idea why. Then the screaming starts. He wants to help but he can’t see, dammit, and then it just stops. He can hear Fullmetal yelling again and he can hear the gunfire, occasionally interrupted by Alex Armstrong’s booming voice. This Father seems to have an alchemical shield of some sort and nothing they throw at him seems to leave a scratch on him. He killed Lust, he would have killed Envy, he can incinerate this monster as well.

“Let’s incinerate this ‘Father’, lieutenant.”

“Yessir.” Levelheaded as always.

 

Someone makes a dome around the Dwarf in the Flask and he fires.

“I don’t know how much to throttle the flames.”

“You don’t need to throttle them. Adjust to 60, no 63.”

“This clapping transmutation doesn’t seem natural.”

 

Since Ishval, he’s come to expect screams when he snaps, but there’s nothing. Then, “Incoming, dead ahead!” He claps and slams his palms to the ground. So it does come in handy after all. He’s not sure it was worth losing his eyesight for it, but he’ll take what he can get.

Apparently Greed - or Ling, who knows - joins the fight and returns to what he was born, returns to nothing. The gunfire starts again and so does the yelling. The shield seems to have gone.

 

Fullmetal’s voice is the loudest. He has always been very loud. In the beginning he rolled his eyes at the insubordination, but now Edward has grown into a young man and a handsome one at that. Completely objectively, of course. He isn’t attracted to men, especially not those nearly half his age. And he’s sure once all of this is over, Edward and Winry are going to get married and live in Resembool and have darling children. Now Roy rolls his eyes because it is expected of him. He also still calls the boy, or rather man, short, even though Fullmetal is about as tall as he is. His reactions are endearing. Objectively, of course, perhaps in a fatherly or brotherly way. 

“Sir!” He looks at Riza, and realizes he can’t actually look at his friend now. He turns in her direction, to where her voice is. “Yes?”, he answers her. “You can’t zone out in the middle of a battlefield, sir, especially since you can’t see attacks coming. What could possibly be so consuming to distract you like this?”, the blonde asks, obviously annoyed at him. _Only the golden coloring of my barely legal subordinate that I will now never see again,_ he thinks. Instead he says “Nothing, I was just… thinking about how blindness will affect me in the long run.” “I’m sure it was, sir. Now we have to move or we might get caught in the crossfire.” Of course she doesn’t believe him. At least she pretends like she does. “Of course, Lieutenant.”

He’s safely out of the way when there is an explosion, followed by a desperate, slightly crazed and yet excited voice. “A stone… a stone! A philosopher’s stone! Give it to me! Your energy!” This sounds like father. Someone is shouting Ed’s name and then he feels the alchemical energy building around him. Then, a scream of rage he has never heard from Fullmetal before. Thank god for Riza, who constantly keeps informing him on what’s happening around them. Alphonse transmuted himself and must have traded his soul for Edward’s flesh arm. He can hear people shouting every variation of Fullmetal’s name and Riza tells him Edward is single handedly punching, yes punching, Father. He adds his own shouts of encouragement. “Fullmetal!” 

\----- 

The fight is over, Father is gone, but so is Alphonse. Riza only hears bits of the conversation.

“What can I use?”

“Use my life for the toll, Edward. Let me act like a father, for once in my life.”

“We vowed to never use a life, and I don’t care who’s it is!”

 

She also hears “You rotten father!” and “I’m sorry, Edward.”, then she sees the light. “What’s going on, lieutenant?”

How does she explain this? She doesn’t even know exactly what she is seeing. “There was a blinding light and now Ed and Al’s father has disappeared.”

“NO! That idiot! Fuck!”, Ed says, eloquent as always. “Fullmetal, what happened?”, Roy sounds so concerned. She’s pretty sure her guess was right and he cares a lot more about the boy than he thinks he does.

“Hohenheim just did the transmutation to trade _his_ life for Al to come back whole! He just up and did it! I would have given my Alchemy and he just gave his life! Now a life of someone else is paid for _our_ mistakes! That bastard. If he comes back alive I will _murder_ him.”, Ed explains, though she doesn’t understand what most of that means.

Roy tries to look Ed in the eyes, but somehow looks somewhere near his chin. Ed doesn’t seem to notice through his rage. She’s pretty glad, he’d be mad about being imagined shorter than he actually is, now. 

\-----

When Alphonse wakes up, he’s furious. Happy, but furious. It’s amazing how he can feel the heat rise to his face before he yells at his father. Ed doesn’t even say a thing; he looks so shocked. Al never loses his temper, so it must be quite the sight, he figures. He tries to get up to have more leverage to shout with, but his legs won’t hold him. “How _could_ you, dad? We vowed to _never_ use another life! You _know_ Ed will blame himself for not being able to stop you and _I_ now have to live with the knowledge that _you_ gave up a big part of your lifespan, possibly all of it, just so I can live a normal life _one minute_ sooner! I understand now why Ed’s always so mad at you. I also understand why you did this, but dad, how _could_ you?” 

His knees give out as does his voice. He wishes he had his old strength back to follow in his brother’s footsteps and punch their father in his martyr face. He feels himself be lifted by his brother. “Come on, Al. Save your strength, it’s not worth it. Yell at him once you can stand on your own, alright? Let’s go home. And _you_! As much as I appreciate having my brother back, I can _not_ believe you did this. I _can’t_ forgive this. You are _not_ welcome at our home. At least not until Al can punch you himself.” Alphonse loves his brother.


	2. Saying Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Father has been defeated and now everybody has to move on with their lives. Everyone needs a new purpose.  
> For Mustang and his team, it's still the same goal they had before Fullmetal came into their lives.  
> For Ed and Al, well, it's about time they figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the new chapter.  
> As always, beta'd by the dear KateTheGoddess.
> 
> Enjoy!

Ed always hated hospitals. The smell of disinfectant, the proximity to needles, and now the proximity to people he wants to avoid. He wanted to go home and instead he landed in a hospital with Al and Mustang of all people. Even Hohenheim was there. He dropped by whenever Ed was wandering the halls and Al sent him away almost at once in the beginning, but let him stay a bit longer every time.

Al had always been so easy to forgive, but Ed could hold a grudge for eternity. He was not ready to see their father. Hohenheim looks at them like the sun was shining out of their every orifice and it was hard to stay angry at a man who sacrificed everything for Al and respects Ed’s need for space. For the first time Ed understands him. Ed would have sacrificed anything for his brother, and Hohenheim actually _did_. Hohenheim sacrificed everything for both of them. He couldn’t have known that Ed would have given his Alchemy as a toll, he must have thought he would trade his life.

Hohenheim gave Ed the two things he loves most in this world and now Ed was giving him the cold shoulder as thanks. He knows he should forgive his father. Equivalent exchange, right? He gave everything and got nothing but scorn in return. But he ignored Ed and Al’s wishes doing it. And yet, he paid the toll. For leaving them and unwittingly giving them the knowledge that made them break the taboo. For not thinking of the consequences for his sons when they thought he was leaving them again.

That’s it, isn’t it? The reason they were both so angry was that it seemed as though he was leaving them a second time, never to return. But he’s here now, trying to get to know his sons and to make up for lost time. Equivalent exchange- he gave up everything for the chance to see both his sons smile for once. Ed sighs. He owes his father a smile.

\----- 

 Hohenheim is reading one of his personal first editions, that he took with him that day, to Al, who still isn’t talking to him, but at least he hasn’t sent him away yet. He can stay an hour now. He always waits until he can see Ed leave the room until he visits Al. He wants to talk to them both, but he also knows that Ed isn’t ready to forgive him and would only get more aggravated if he insisted.

“…for nothing can equal the value of a human soul.”

“Should have left that one in your study. That would have been good to know.” He can see Al’s eyes widen (it’s so wonderful to see Al’s facial expressions now) at the sound of his brother’s voice and turns around to see his eldest son leaning against the doorframe with one eyebrow disappearing into his bangs. His hair is in a ponytail now, like his own.

He can see the lingering anger in Ed’s eyes, but now it’s the old pain and not the recent fury for his latest mistake. Of course, he knows he should have considered the pain his children would feel at seeing their father give his life for ‘their’ mistakes, but he cannot regret his decision now that Alphonse can eat again and Edward is still here. He has no idea what Ed would have given up for his brother and he doesn’t want to imagine.

“Edward! I’m sorry, I’ll leave now, if you want to go to bed.”, he says, even though he really hopes he doesn’t have to.

“No. Stay. I owe you this much. You gave everything for Al and I understand that. You paid your price, now I owe you a chance, at least. Equivalent exchange, right?” Hohenheim can’t hide his smile, everything is Alchemy to Ed. Edward sits on his bed, cross-legged, and turns an expectant eye towards him.

“You can keep reading, you know. I haven’t read this book, and it seems to have some new insights, so…” Hohenheim is practically beside himself with joy and immediately turns to his book. “Right! Where was I… Ah, yes. Nothing can equal the value of a human soul, therefore…” He reads with a smile on his face until both of his sons have fallen asleep and then quietly leaves and writes them a note that he will come back tomorrow. 

\-----

 Roy still hates being blind. He needs help with everything an it’s a nuisance. The entire team is here, crowding the room and making him learn things about Ishval. It was his idea, but still, he got one day of rest before he was pelted with information. Double-crop and dual-cropping are essentially the same thing; they are too strict with him.

Marcoh came by after about 2 months of this with his proposal. Two weeks ago he got the phone call that Havoc has been healed and is now trying to rebuild his muscles. Marcoh is still helping Havoc recover, something about walking in a pool. He should be here any day now, though. He will finally be able to walk around alone. Roy hears the door open. There are two pairs of footsteps, one slightly stumbling and light while the other is uneven.

“Fullmetal? And is that Alphonse?”

“How did you know it was us? Did you miraculously get your sight back?” Someone is waving a hand in front of his face, he can feel it.

“No, but your footsteps are uneven and who else would be with you. What do you want?” “Nothing. _I_ wanted to just leave the second we got discharged, but _Al_ thinks we have to say goodbye to everyone first. We’re heading to Resembool on the first train out.”

_No no no no no don’t go_ , he thinks while his voice says: “Oh, of course, Alphonse must have recovered by now. I’m sorry I will not be able to see you in your real body. I have to say that is one of my biggest regrets about losing my sight. Well, besides not being able to go anywhere on my own, of course.” _And not being able to look you in the eyes again_ , which he also doesn’t say.

If only it would have taken Alphonse a little bit longer to recover, Roy would have had his sight back and could have seen both brothers in all their glory. He won’t tell them he will get it back with a stone, since that would probably make them angry with him and he doesn’t think he can handle that right now. He probably won’t see them ever again, anyway. “Well, goodbye then.”, Fullmetal says before he walks unevenly out the door, taking his heart with him.

“Brother would never say so, but we will both miss you, sir. All of you, really. Thank you for always having our backs. And goodbye.”, Alphonse says, polite as always, before his footsteps retreat as well. “Goodbye, Elric brothers.”, Roy says, even though he’s sure they can’t hear him anymore. 

\-----

 They’ve been home for two years. Winry remembers when they came home and the first thing she heard was Alphonse, saying: “Den! Stop! That tickles!”. Now the brothers are sparring on the front lawn, both in perfect shape. She is baking their favorite apple pie, Gracia Hughes’ recipe. The timer chimes and, as if they heard it from where they were sparring, both brothers come into the kitchen laughing.

“Man, it’s so good to be able to spar properly again! What’s that smell?”, Ed says, suddenly turning to the oven Winry had just opened to retrieve her creation.

“Yay! Apple pie! My favorite! Good timing, too, I’m starving.”, Al adds, seeing the food in her hands.

Ed still smells like motor oil and she can’t stop staring. Both brothers had removed their shirts at some point during the spar and she can see how well they had both grown into their bodies. Al notices, blushes, and starts looking for his shirt at once, while Ed just looks down at himself as if he had forgotten that he was shirtless. He probably actually did, the idiot. Not that she’s complaining. He’s taller than her now and his ponytail reaches halfway down his back.

There are scars all over his right shoulder where the metal used to be imbedded in his skin before they took it out. Most people probably thought it looked awful, but Winry always thought it showed how hard he had fought. She also feels a little bit bad about being glad he was stuck with his automail leg. Of course she wanted him to be able to restore himself, but it gave her an excuse to come up from Rush Valley for maintenance just to see them. She spent more time in Resembool than in Rush Valley now, but she can feel the air get awkward now. They must want to leave home again. They never could stay still.

On cue with her thoughts, Edward says: “Hey, Winry, we gotta talk to you.” Alphonse found his shirt and is tugging it over his head while Ed just looks a little bit lost until Alphonse hands him his shirt. “Thanks, Al. So Winry, uhm, we were thinking, Alphonse and I are both more or less back in shape,” _More or less?_ she thinks. “, and we decided we want to travel the world. We want to learn more types of Alchemy and learn languages and meet new people. Well, Al wants to meet new people, I just want to figure out how to help people like Nina.” Both brothers look sad for a bit, but then Al’s eyes light up.

“We want to figure out healing Alchehestry and maybe catch up with Ling and May and just learn everything we can.”, Al says. “We also want to check on Teacher, so we’ll be going to Dublith first, so maybe we could head in that direction together when you’re going to Rush Valley?”, Al adds.

She doesn’t want them to leave. She wants to stay here with them, but she knows she can’t.

“Alright, if that’s what you want, let’s go.”, she says, and she means it. 

\----- 

 Al dreads Dublith Station because he’ll have to say goodbye to Winry. He doesn’t want to leave her, but he can’t watch her drool over his brother anymore. He accepted it, once, because he thought at least those two will be happy, but he can see now that his brother is clueless and obviously doesn’t feel the same way about her. He thinks Ed doesn’t feel that way about any of the girls that seem to crowd around the People’s Alchemist, now that he’s taller and has two real arms. Ed seems more annoyed than anything else. He’s stopped wearing his read coat in an effort to hide his identity, but it doesn’t seem to stop anyone from recognizing him.

“Dear passengers, we will be arriving at Dublith Station in 5 minutes.”, says the voice that one only understands after years of traveling by train. Al wants to make the most of it, but how does he tell her?

“Uhm, Ed, why don’t you get our luggage and meet me at the exit?”, he says at an attempt at subtlety.

“Why do I have to? Can’t you get it yourself?”, is brother retorts because subtlety is wasted on Ed.

“Brother, please. Be nice.” He adds a pointed look. He told Ed about his feelings for Winry and his brother had been really happy about it. ‘ _You two would be perfect together!_ ’ he had said. Ed seems to understand and his eyes widen for a moment, then he puts on his best ‘put upon’ look and says: “Fine.”, before he walks off towards the luggage cart.

Al and Winry stand up and head to the compartment door. They’re in front of the exit, when he says: “Winry, I just wanted to say, you mean so much to me, I can’t even begin to explain. I promise we’ll come visit every now and then so this isn’t goodbye forever, just for now.”

“Of course, Al, you two are my best friends. You mean the world to me.”, Winry answers, and the word ‘ _friend_ ’ slices through him like a knife.

“I love you, Winry.”, he finally says.

“I love you, too, Al. You two are my family.”, she retorts. And it hurts.

“That’s not what I meant.”, he mumbles, hoping she might not hear. But she does and he hopes that maybe…

“Oh.” Her face falls, as what he says sinks in.

“I’m sorry, Al, I…” In that moment Ed comes back with the luggage just as the train stops.

“Goodbye, Winry.” Al says, taking his luggage and jumping onto the platform. He waits out of sight and listens to Ed and Winry.

“Bye, Win’. I promise we’ll come by when we come back from Xing, alright? Take care.” Ed says, hugging her as the doors open. Then he lets her go and jumps out of the train as well.

“Goodbye.”, Winry whispers, but they both hear.

\-----

 “2nd Lieutenant Jean Havoc, is that you?”, says a sweet voice behind him. Jean turns around and spots a lovely lady with beautiful brea- hair. Beautiful _hair_. – and almost drops the cigarette he’s chewing on. “2 nd Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina?”, he responds. 

“Yes, that’s me! Heard you’re in a wheelchair, but here you are, running about.”, Ms. Catalina says cheerfully. He answers immediately: “Yes, it’s a funny story. Well, funny isn’t really the right word for this. More like long and awful.” The woman looks sad for him, but her facial expression is devoid of pity. Havoc remembers that this woman is a soldier as well and has seen her fair share of hardships.

“I’d still like to hear it. Riza hasn’t told me much about what has been going on before the Promised Day.”, the lady says, looking disgruntled. Jean understands, as being kept out of the loop is really infuriating.

“Are you sure? It’s really not that important in the grand scheme of things.”, he asks her, hoping she’ll still want to hear it. “I’m sure. How about tonight over dinner? My treat.”– though her asking is more of a statement than a question – and winks. Jean doesn’t really know what he’s saying at this point – his mouth is just spewing out words – but he must have agreed because she says: “Perfect! I’ll pick you up in front of the dorms at 8!”.

Jean Havoc is still staring after her when someone taps him on the shoulder and says: “2nd Lieutenant Jean Havoc? Colonel Mustang wants to see you. You’re being transferred.” 

\-----

The Promised Day has ended the old hell and brought about a new one. At least for Master Sergeant Kain Fuery, who has to oversee the rebuilding of all the phone lines in Central. One wouldn’t consider the task as overly difficult, but the battle destroyed a lot of the city and a lot of the phone lines with it. He understands his superior now, with his constant complaining over paperwork. Communications and all the files there were in disarray after the attack and Fuery has to go through all of them multiple times to get them back into order.

He mentions this to Colonel Mustang one day and within an hour there’s a pretty girl with short brown hair and glasses standing in the doorway to communications. “Master Sergeant Kain Fuery? I’m Sheska. Colonel Mustang said you might need my help?”, she says hesitantly. Kain wonders why she even introduced herself, they’ve met after all. “Hello Sheska, we’ve met before, no need to be so formal. You’re not official military, so you can just call me Kain.”, he responds. “Yes, I know we’ve met, Ma- Kain. I just wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”, she says shyly. Before Kain can responds she continues: “So what can I help you with?”

 

The task is suddenly not nearly as dull and he wakes up every morning excited to go to work. About a week has passed and it’s a Thursday now. They’re almost done getting all the files in order and Kain almost wishes there were more files. They will probably be done tomorrow and then he won’t be able to see Sheska anymore. He wonders if Sheska thinks so as well, because they are both working a lot slower than they would usually. Yet, at the end of the day, they have made a lot of progress and at this rate they will definitely be done by lunchtime the next day. Kain has never hated Fridays until now.

By Friday morning Fuery has gathered his courage; he _will_ ask Sheska on a date. If she says yes, then all will be well, if she says no, there’s always that possibility that he will be transferred soon anyways.

He’s just about to put away the last of the files – extremely slowly, mind you – when Sheska comes in, looking slightly upset. “What’s wrong, Sheska? You look sad.”, he asks and the girl hesitantly responds: “Well, I’ve been having so much fun working with you, and now we’re almost done.” Kain’s heart _swells_ at her words. “Actually, Sheska, I’ve been wondering, well, as you said, we’re almost done and we probably won’t see each other much after this, and well. Will you go on a date with me?”, he says, the last sentence rushed, as if that would make it less scary. 

“Are you serious? I’d love to!”, the girl answers, as she hugs Kain tightly. “Really? That’s great! How about tomorrow? I could pick you up at 7 and we could go have dinner?”, he asks, with the girl still embracing him, who then responds: “Yes! That sounds perfect. Here, I’ll give you my address!”, and scribbles down her address and phone number. Fuery takes a quick look at the piece of paper before putting it in his pocket and saying: “I think we need to get back to work now, or Lieutenant Hawkeye might actually shoot me.”

\-----

 Riza is watching her childhood friend closely as he tries to get out of doing his work when the door opens. When she looks up, she spots a tall Ishvalan with a ridiculous beard and a short ponytail. “Major Miles, to what do we owe the pleasure?”, she asks him. He has stopped wearing his trademark sunglasses, now that Fuhrer Grumman has declared calling Ishvalans ‘red eyed demons’ and similar insults illegal. Riza realized she likes his eyes. They are cold as her own, but there is always humor hidden deep within them. The sunglasses hid the humor and all she had to go on was his voice and body language, which never gave away anything. 

“Good morning Lieutenant. I have been sent to inform _you_ , Colonel Mustang, that you and your team have been given transfer orders to Ishval. I assume you already knew that, since you were the one who handed in the proposal, but since I am in charge of the restructure of Ishval, I will be coming as well.”, the Major says to the Colonel. Then he looks at Riza, a smile in his eyes and nowhere else, and says: “I was wondering whether, since we are all going there anyways, we should depart together?”

“Yes, that would probably be easiest to organize. We will contact you when we know when the next reasonable time to depart arises.”, Riza admits to the Ishvalan. Of course, it doesn’t actually matter whether they depart together or not, but she likes his humor and train rides are rather dull.


	3. The Path to Xing pt. 1: Dublith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way to Xing, the Elric brothers decide to visit their teacher, Izumi Curtis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd as usual by the wonderful KateTheGoddess.  
> I will try to post every Sunday (instead of Monday) now that my studies have started again.  
> I hope you'll enjoy this!  
> I know my chapters are really short, but I'm still writing this so I want to keep the upload schedule and that means that instead of posting all of the "The Path To Xing" chapter, I will post it in snippets.  
> If you'd prefer I upload more at once, but then leave a longer break once the story has caught up to my current spot, feel free to tell me.

_“Hey Ed?”, Al asks. “Yes?”, Ed answers, dreading the question. He doesn’t know what it is, but his brother’s tone suggests something he doesn’t want to answer._

_“Do you love Winry?”, Al asks quietly. “Of course I love her. She’s family.”, Ed retorts, not really knowing where his brother was going with this. “No, I mean. Do you_ love _love her?”, Al says, and it dawns on Ed that Al made the same assumptions as everybody else. “No. What is it with everyone and thinking there’s more between Winry and me. That’s like thinking you and I are a thing. It’s practically incest.”, he answers his brother, noticing a second too late that he may have phrased this indelicately. Not that that would have changed anything, since he doesn’t know how to be delicate, but still. Al looks a bit taken aback at the incest part, but also a little bit relieved._

 _“Really? I mean it’s not actually incest, we aren’t related to her by blood, I mean…”, Al starts excitedly. “Where are you going with this? You’re not trying to talk me into asking her out, are you?”, Ed asks, before he notices the ‘we’ in his brother’s sentence. Just as he comes to a conclusion, Al says: “Good heavens, no. I was just asking because, well, I wanted to ask her out and I thought you don’t want to date her anyways, but I just had to make sure and, well I love her and…” “Are you kidding me? That’s awesome! You two would be_ perfect _together!”_

 

On the way to their Teacher’s shop, Ed sees his brother’s face and thinks back to the conversation they had shortly before they left. ‘ _I love her_ ’ Al had said, with joy in his eyes. It breaks his heart now, seeing him look so heartbroken. “She’ll come around, Al. She has to. You’re so amazing and whole and _nice_ and everything! How could she _not_ fall in love you? Let’s go to teacher’s and get beat up a bit, that will cheer you up come on!”, Ed tells Al now, pulling his hand.

Al stops and let’s go. His brother stares at his feet and quietly says: “You don’t see it, do you?” “See what, Al?”, Ed retorts, a bit scared now. “She won’t come around. I wasn’t sure before, but I am now. She won’t fall in love with _me_ because she’s in love with _you_.”, Al says and looks back at Ed at the last word. “When I told her, she apologized and looked at you. As if she was wishing it was you telling her this.” There is no betrayal in his brother’s voice, but there is pain and jealousy. He hates it. “No. No that can’t be true, I would have noticed I’m sure-”, Ed starts.

“You’re clueless, brother. You always have been. People love you. Everybody loves the People’s Alchemist. Even the goddamn Colonel loves you!”, Al interrupts. His eyes widen a fraction as he finishes his sentence. “As if, people only like the persona of the guy who helped save the country. A lot of people helped. Including you. And Mustang _tolerates_ me at best.”, Ed answers. Mustang doesn’t love Ed. He hates him most days and tolerates him on good days. Not that he can blame the bastard, Ed knows he’s pretty annoying. And Winry, she just loves his metal leg.

“You are clueless. I never minded just being the Fullmetal Alchemist’s little brother, until I figured out that Winry saw it that way too. I’m not blaming you, Ed, you can’t help being you, but still. It hurts.”, Al says, tears gathering in his eyes. Ed is glad for a second, seeing his brother being able to cry, except he doesn’t want him to cry. Al’s his precious baby brother, and Ed will make him happy.

Ed hugs his brother, saying: “Al, you are so much more than that. You are the kindest, sweetest, most compassionate person I know. Everybody who knows you thinks you are the best person on the planet. Be yourself and anyone you want will be at your feet. Give Winry time, she’ll see what I see. You’ll see. And then I will tell you ‘I told you so’ and you will laugh.”

“Thank you, brother. I’ll try.”, Al says. “Come on. Let’s go surprise Teacher.”, Ed suggests. “Okay.”, his brother answers, sounding a lot happier at the prospect.

 

\----- 

 

The bell chimes and Izumi goes to the front desk. She immediately spots the Elric boys, but barely recognizes them. Ed’s hair got really long and he’s about her height now. Al is not the bony little thing he was, either. He’s taller than her now and while he isn’t as bulky as Ed, he looks strong and lean. She tries to hide her fondness by putting on her angry face and shouting: “What are you doing here, unannounced? You should be with your family, resting and recovering!”. She emphasizes her point by throwing her butcher’s knife at Ed’s head, missing him on purpose, though she expected him to dodge regardless. He didn’t. He doesn’t even startle. He just raises one eyebrow. Al on the other hand practically jumps out of his skin.

“Hey, Teacher. We’ve been recovering for _ages_ and we’re getting _bored_ so we thought we’d come annoy you a bit.”, Ed says. She throws her slipper at him and this time he does dodge, laughing. “Sorry, Teacher. What Ed was trying to say, was that we’ve been stuck in one place for too long and we kind of wanted to explore other countries, now that we have the time. We’re on our way to Xing, actually, to try to learn some Alchehestry and catch up with some friends. But we thought we ought to take the long way and come visit you and maybe get back into shape. Two years of inactivity has made us pretty rusty.”, Al corrects with a smile.

She can’t help it. She hugs them both tightly and thanks the god she doesn’t believe in that her boys have achieved their goals. Then she smacks them over the head and says: “Well then we’d better start training! After lunch, of course.”

 

\----- 

 

They stay with Teacher for two weeks. Al learns how to fight better with the body he wasn’t quite accustomed to, yet. His brother relearns how to stop using his right arm as a shield against sharp objects. They were arguing about how best to get to Xing when Izumi calls them to the back of the store. “Boys! It’s for you!”, she says as she hands Al the phone.

“Hello? This is Alphonse Elric speaking.” “ _Alphonse! Good to hear your voice again!_ ”, the voice at the other end of the line says. “Fuery? Is that you? To what do we owe the pleasure?”, Al asks. “ _Yes, yes it’s me! I have so much to tell you guys! Sheska and I-_ ” the voice changes: “ _Alphonse? I apologize about Fuery. He doesn’t realize he can tell you everything when you’re here._ ” “Lieutenant Hawkeye? What do you mean when were here?”

“ _Well, Alphonse. We have just received the news that Roy will be promoted straight to General for his help on the Promised Day and with the peace negotiations, including Ishval. He doesn’t know yet, but I expect he will be informed sometime tomorrow. We were wondering if you and Ed wanted to come up to Central so we can celebrate. I know Roy would be thrilled._ ”, she says. He has a feeling that she is calling her commanding officer by his first name on purpose. He decides to go fishing. “I bet he would be thrilled.”, he answers in a conspiratorial voice. She picks it up immediately, confirming his suspicions.

“ _Yes he would. Say, would you make sure Ed dresses nicely? I know you can handle dressing yourself, but we want the Colonel happy, after all._ ” He can imagine the Lieutenant winking, even though she never actually would. “Of course, Lieutenant. When should we be there?”


	4. The Path to Xing pt. 2: Central City – Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting a call from the (now) Major Hawkeye, Edward and Alphonse go to visit Central City to celebrate everybody's (but mostly Roy Mustang's) promotion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys!  
> So, beta'd by the lovely KateTheGoddess (as always).  
> I'm posting this much later in the day than I usually would (sorry), but I have an exam tomorrow and I literally JUST finishes cramming, so, yeah, sorry!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! 
> 
> PS: I will also be posting very sporadically for the next few months because for some reason all our exams are in October and the Projects are all due in November and my BSc thesis is due in the beginning of December (aaaaaaaah), even though the semester technically goes until Febuary, but unless I fail EVERYTHING I have nothing to do after the BSc thing. But hey I'll have like 3 months worth of Christmas holidays, so there will be lots of stuff from me!  
> I'm rambling, ignore me. Have fun with the story!
> 
> ALSO: I'm not 100% sure what I want to do about Winry and Alphonse pairing wise. Anything you guys would prefer to read? Winry/Paninya, Winry/Al, Al/May, May/LanFan? All suggestions are welcome!

“I don’t see why I have to dress nicely just to go to some bar.”, Ed says. He never liked dressing nicely. Nice clothes felt restricting and he liked being able to move. He keeps moving his arms in front of his body, feels the fabric tighten around his shoulders way too early and fidgets some more until the sleeves go back to his wrist. Then he starts over again. Al rolls his eyes at him. “You know why, Ed. We’re surprising Col- General Mustang and it’s not just _some bar_. We’re also visiting Gracia und Elicia before we go there and I think we should both look our best to make them happy, don’t you agree?”, Al says to him, patient as always. It’s strange hearing people call the bastard _General Mustang_. General _Bastard_ on the other hand sounds fantastic. He will milk this for all it’s worth. 

“Fine. For the Hughes’. But I am not dressing up for General Bastard. When we leave I am going to change. It’s not like he can _see_ me.”, Ed says. “No, you’re not. You’re not a child anymore, Ed, people expect you to be a bit more dignified now.”, Al then retorts. He doesn’t care what other people expect from him, but he wants Al to be happy and if this makes him happy then he’ll wear a stupid waistcoat. “Urgh, fine. For you.”

“Thank you, Ed. Come on, let’s get going.”

 ----- 

When Roy rings Gracia’s doorbell, he expects his best friend’s daughter to jump up at him with an ‘ _Uncle Roy!_ ’. Instead he hears her laughing in the living room. He also hears Alphonse laughing. That can’t be right, he thinks, the Elrics are in Resembool, are they not? He has just finished hugging Gracia when there’s the anticipated “Uncle Roy!” from Elicia. Behind her, still grinning widely, is what must be Alphonse, in his real body. Roy turns towards the younger Elric brother, just as Edward steps into the hall combing through his hair with his fingers. He can feel his eyes widen at the sight. Elicia must have braided Edward’s hair because he is trying to detangle them now. Ed’s as tall as Roy by now and dressed in a grey waistcoat over a white shirt and black slacks. When Roy looks back up at Ed’s face he can see the young man looking very surprised and having stilled in the middle of tying his hair back up into a ponytail.

“You can see me. Al, the bastard can _see_!”, Fullmetal exclaims, turning to his brother.

“Well, I guess the jig is up, then.”, Roy says. “How did you get your sight back, Col- General?”, Alphonse inquires, elbowing his brother in the ribs.

“Well, I know you will probably not approve of this, but Dr. Marcoh came by the hospital with a Philosopher’s Stone and begged me to let him heal me so that I can restore Ishval. Give the souls in the Stone a chance to help me help their relatives, so to speak. I asked him to heal Havoc first, and he did-”

“You what?”, Ed interrupts. “I mean, I get why you used the stone, you deserved to, it wasn’t your choice to open the Gate so it’s fine I guess, especially if you’re using their sacrifice to help the Ishvalans. But Havoc can walk again? That’s fantastic!”.

Well, not quite the reaction he was expecting, but he’ll take it.

“Yes, he can. And Al, I _finally_ get to see you in your original body. You look well.”, Roy says, and he means it. ‘ _Ed, you look stunning_ ’, seems inappropriate, though, so he keeps that part to himself.

“Well! Let’s have dinner, shall we?”, Gracia suggests and he can practically see both Elric brothers drooling.

 ----- 

When they enter Madam Christmas’ everybody is already there. Fuery, Breda, Falman, Riza and Havoc without a wheelchair. Roy’s seen him without it before, of course, but he rejoices every time he he sees him and sends a silent ‘ _screw you_ ’ to Lust and the Truth, because Havoc can _walk_ and Roy can _see_ him do it. He also thanks the Ishvalans in the Stone, who helped heal them both, every night before he goes to sleep, and promises he will put their sacrifice to good use to restore Ishval and peace in Amestris.

They spot him as soon as he enters the bar with the Elric brothers in tow, and cheer.

“ _General_ Mustang!”, Havoc shouts around the cigarette in his mouth. “Ed! Al! It’s so good to see you both!”, exclaims Fuery after saluting to Roy.

“Hey Fuery. It’s been a while! Good to see all of you! Especially you, Havoc, out of a wheelchair finally, I see!”, Al says to the group. “Yeah, General Bastard over here already told us about it, but I’m glad I got to see it, too.”, Ed adds. Roy rolls his eyes at the new nickname, but lets it slide. Because this is a happy day and nothing can make him angry. It’s definitely not because Ed can do anything he wants when he looks like that.

“Roy-boy! I think congratulations are in order! And who is this you have brought with you?”, Madam Christmas shouts from behind the bar, where she just materialized as if out of thin air. He can feel his cheeks heat up from the endearment; Edward will definitely never let him live it down. Fullmetal’s eyes already widen and turn into an evil grin. “Madam! These young men are Edward and Alphonse Elric. Though I’m sure you already knew that.”, Roy answers his aunt who is also his foster mother, trying not to look at Edward, who’s grin still looks very evil from what he can see in his peripheral vision.

“Of course, Roy, but introductions are important. Manners maketh man, after all. Really, who raised you?”, his foster mother says, smiling around her cigarette in the most disturbing way. He just realized that it was a horrible mistake to let the brothers into the same room as his aunt. Those three will absolutely ruin him. 

“Uhm, General Mustang, I don’t mean to be rude, but who is this charming lady?”, Al asks and it doesn’t even sound sarcastic. He’s glad Al is such a nice and gentle person instead of the evil mastermind he could be with his talent for saying the right things to the right people.

“Yeah, General Bastard, who’s she? You must be close, if she can call you Roy-Boy without spontaneously combusting.”, Ed says, tactless as ever, looking at him. He still startles when Ed doesn’t look up at him, but straight at his eyes. Roy wonders if short jokes still make him explode.

“This is the proprietor of this venue and my foster mother and aunt, Chris Mustang, or rather, as most people know her, Madam Christmas.”, Roy answers both brothers, looking at Alphonse because he’d rather Ed didn’t say anything. Roy will end up embarrassed no matter what the young alchemist says. Alphonse is polite as ever and says: “Ah, I see. Nice to meet you, Madam Christmas.”, while Ed just goes up to her and whispers very loudly: “Does that mean you have embarrassing stories about Roy-Boy over there?”. Roy knows the answer to that and resists the urge to hide behind Alphonse. Madam Christmas laughs her real laugh, a rumbling and deep chuckle, really, and says: “I like these two. They should be good for you. Keep you grounded. And yes, Edward-” “Ed, please.”, Edward interjects. “- Ed, then, I also have pictures to go with the story.”, his aunt says, wiggling her eyebrows. Roy is _doomed_.

“I assume you boys are old enough to drink?”, the Madam adds, looking between Edward and Alphonse. “I’m 18 and brother is 19, so I assume we are.”, Alphonse answers her, looking uncertain. Edward has come back to Roy’s side and tells him quietly “Alphonse has never had alcohol. I think he’s scared.”. Unlike with other people, Edward sound like he’s concerned instead of making fun of him. “And you have?”, Roy asks. “Of course, Greeling insisted. It was disgusting, mind you, but I had some.”, Ed answers.

“I see. Well, Madam, how about a round of beers for the table?”, Roy says to his aunt.

“Put it on your tab?”, she answers him. He doesn’t even answer because it’s always _his_ tab, just nods tiredly. Then he heads to the table.

When he sits down next to Riza, Ed drops into a chair on his other side, while Alphonse goes to sit between Havoc and Fuery, shooting Riza a very quick look that Roy _really_ doesn’t like. Maybe Alphonse _is_ an evil mastermind. Roy is instantly terrified.

“So, what have you two been up to?”, Breda asks the brothers. “Mostly just recovering. Al had a lot of mass to build up and my arm needed a lot of work too. It became pretty dull after a while and were currently visiting our teacher when we got your call.”, Ed says, looking at Riza at the end of his last sentence. “Not much else, really. We’re going to go to Xing from here to go visit Ling and May and hopefully pick up some Alchehestry on the way.”, Alphonse adds, just as the beer arrives. “How long are you staying in Central, then?”, Roy asks. “Just a couple of days.”, Ed answers. “This wasn’t really part of the plan, so we need to head out soon. We already wrote the Xingans that we’re on our way to them, and while I don’t care if we make them wait a bit longer, Alphonse thinks it’s rude, so…” Roy quickly takes a sip before he can say something stupid like ‘ _Don’t go, I don’t want to say goodbye to you all over again_ ’ or ‘ _As long as you come back to me_ ’. Ed smells his beer before shrugging and taking a sip himself. Then he looks at Al and says “This is much better than whatever Greeling made me drink. Try it, Al, it won’t hurt you.”. Al obediently takes a small sip and his eyes widen. “This _is_ good.”, he says and immediately takes another, much bigger, sip.

“How about you lot? What have you been up to?”, Ed asks no one in particular. “Well, Sheska and I are dating at it’s our anniversary soon!”, Fuery answers first. “Really? That’s wonderful!”, Al tells him, while Ed nods excitedly. “The rest of us have been stuck in Ishval. Not much to tell there.”, Breda adds. Roy knows there’s more to that story, but doesn’t say anything. It’s not his place to say anything. “Yes, the long distance has been hard for us, too. But I call Sheska every day to make up for it.”, Fuery adds reassuringly.

“How come you’re all in Central, then?”, Ed asks. “Well, the General wasn't the only one to be promoted, in case you forgot. He was the only one who absolutely  _had_ to come, since jumping four whole ranks is unusual, but straight to  _General_ is unheard of. We all got two ranks, which is, you know,  _great_ , but we could have picked it up anytime. But some of us had people to visit, so, good opportunity, I guess. It should be fine, Lieutenant Colonel Miles can handle Ishval for us for a week, I think.”, Havoc answers Ed, looking at Riza, who was decidedly not looking back. “I’m sure he can. He’s a capable man and the Ishvalans trust him more than us.”, Riza adds, still looking away from Havoc. There’s a story there, Roy’s sure of it, but he decides not to comment on it. He's more surprised that Havoc didn't start gushing about the girlfriend he's not sure he has due to the transfer.

“If we’d have known you were so close we would have come to visit. Resembool is the closest station to Ishval, it’s less than half a day’s walk.”, Al says. Al is right, of course. It’s an hour by car, so about 7 to 9 hours on foot. Roy knows why _he_ didn’t visit _them_. He was trying very hard to forget the last image he saw of Ed, where a gigantic eye appeared on his stomach. And then he tried to forget his voice saying goodbye to him at the hospital. Then he tried to forget the feeling of his heart leaping out of his chest and latching onto the unsuspecting blonde.

The beer is gone and Roy has switched to whiskey. While the Elrics had decided to stick to beer, the rest of his Team was still contemplating what to drink. Roy tuned out most of the conversation, concentrating instead on finishing his drink. He knew what his team had been doing, and the brothers had nothing more to tell, apparently. He also didn’t feel like small talk. He felt like _drinking_. Roy downed what was left of the whiskey, and excused himself before getting up and heading over to the bar to get a refill.

“Usually people are happier when they get promoted, Roy-Boy.”, Madam Christmas tells him while she refills his glass without needing to be told. “I’m happy about the promotion.”, Roy tells his aunt. He meant it to sound explanatory, but it comes out defensively. “Ah. So you’re nervous about being in the same room as that subordinate of yours that you kept complaining to me about.”, she deducts out of nowhere. “Nervous? I’m not nervous. I’m just a little tired, is all.”, he says ( _not at all nervously, thank you very much_ ). Of course she doesn’t believe him. He’s an amazing liar, but he can’t seem to lie to her.

His drink is empty again. She pours another while saying: “Please, Roy, don’t insult me. If I didn’t think you liked the boy when he was all you’d ever talk about-” “Complaining doesn’t count, Madam.”, Roy interrupts. “Don’t interrupt me, young man. If I didn’t think it then, it’s obvious now. You’re fidgeting like the time you put on your uniform for the first time and you’re sitting here, talking to me, and drinking yourself stupid instead of talking to the people who came here to celebrate with you. You barely look at Ed, and when you do, it’s only if you think nobody sees it. He’s an attractive young man, though I didn’t think you swung that way-” “Madam!”, Roy interjects, knowing he shouldn’t, but he can’t help it. “I’m not gay, Madam. I’m not in love with a boy half my age either.”, he adds. His drink is empty again. He doesn’t even remember drinking it. She refills it again. “I never said anything about _love_.”, she says quietly, raising an eyebrow at him and showing him her signature smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you spot the Kingsman reference? It was put in for the delight of my dearest trashbuddy, couldn't help it. 
> 
> Will try to post every week, probably Sundays, so see you next time on "Will the ever stop being in denial", where there may be horrible pickup lines and also Al and Hawkeye are whispering conspiratorially.


	5. The Path to Xing pt. 3: Central City – Pickup Lines and Other Adventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy has been sitting at the bar on his own for quite a while. Ed won't admit it, but he's a little bit worried. It's Mustang's Promotion Party (mostly). So he goes to sit with him. There may be alcohol involved. As well as pickup lines. And Ed is not ready for that at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going off schedule. I think I'll pick up the pace a bit, since the writing of the rest has been going faster than expected. It may have something to do with very boring classes (don't tell anyone). Yeah, so...
> 
> Beta'd by KateTheGoddess (truly a goddess imo) as usual.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!

Roy has been sitting at the bar, downing one whiskey after another for about half an hour when Ed looks looks at him. Ed looks like he’s thinking about something. Then he gets up, excuses himself and joins Roy at the bar. Roy jumps at something Ed says and nearly falls off of his barstool, making Ed laugh. Riza can’t hear what they are talking about, but watches them closely. Then she can feel Al sitting down in Roy’s abandoned seat.

“Major?”, Al ask her. “What is it, Alphonse?” “What do you think they’re talking about?”

“Who knows. But the General looks uncomfortable.”, she says, observing as Roy fidgets in his seat. Ed is playing with the ends of his ponytail. Roy looks like he is trying very hard not to stare and failing miserably.

“Is brother _flirting_? I’ve never seen him flirt before. It’s quite funny.”, Al says. He’s watching them as well. _This seems like a good time as any to ask_ , she thinks.

“Alphonse? Is your brother interested in the General?”, she prompts. Alphonse looks surprised at the bluntness. Then he says “Well he certainly isn’t interested in anyone else and if you asked him that same question he would deny it and snort a lot, so I think so, yes. Why do you ask?”. Alphonse’s tone suggests that he knows why, but wants to hear it regardless. “The General would never admit it, but he… holds your brother in very high esteem.”, she answers. Alphonse understands her perfectly. His eyes take on a very conspiratorial look when he says “Imagine that.”

 -----

The bastard’s been sitting there alone for half an hour. It’s his party and he’s not even with them. _Maybe he’s avoiding you because he didn’t actually want to see you and was just being polite instead of just sending you away_ , a voice in Ed’s head tells him and he tells himself it doesn’t hurt. _Maybe he’s avoiding you because he likes you too much_ , another voice in his head, that sound suspiciously like is brother, tells him. He doubts that that’s the reason, but he’s never been good at small talk, so he excuses himself and walks up to the Flame Alchemist. When he’s right behind Mustang he says: “I’m bored, entertain me with cheesy pickup lines that I’m sure you have plenty of.”. The -now- General all but jumps out of his skin and nearly falls off the barstool. Ed thinks it’s hilarious. He sits down on the stool next to Mustang, still laughing. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. I could have hurt myself.”, the bastard tells him, trying for patronizing and ending up with whining. The Flame Alchemist must have had a lot of that brown slush because his usual mask is completely gone and Mustang doesn’t even seem to notice. “You shouldn’t be so easy to sneak up on. Really, Mustang, one would think blindness would have made you more attentive.”, Ed says in what he is hoping is an aloof voice. It’s probably not. He feels a little bit drunk.

“ _Fullmetal_ , you shouldn’t speak that way to your commanding officer.”, Mustang says without any of the venom the bastard was probably trying for. “You’re a bastard, Mustang, and not my commanding officer anymore. And I’m not the Fullmetal Alchemist anymore, either. So don’t call me Fullmetal, _General_ Mustang.”, Ed says sarcastically.

“Well then, _Ed_ , you shouldn’t be calling me _General_ or _Mustang_ either, now should you?”, the bastard tells him just as sarcastically. Ed chooses to ignore the heat rising in his face at hearing his name coming out of Mustang’s mouth. He also chooses not to look at the bastard’s mouth. Or eyes. His beer is suddenly _very_ interesting. 

“Fine, _Roy_. I was promised cheesy pickup lines, now let’s hear them!”, Ed answers.

“Well, _Ed_ , first let me buy you a drink.”, Mustang – Roy – says. Ed didn’t realize that his beer was empty. Now he has to look at the bastard instead.

“Sure, whatever’s good.”, he tells Madam Christmas, who has obviously been trying hard not to laugh at her foster child.

“Sure thing, kid.”, she answers and goes to mix a bunch of things he doesn’t know together.

“Cheesy pickup lines, then. Well I only know good ones, so I can just do the ones Havoc likes to use?”, Roy suggests. “I’m sure your pickup lines are just as stupid. But go ahead.”, Ed answers him. Then he looks at Roy expectantly. Which was a mistake. He realizes he’s probably never been this close to him. He notices this because he can see now that Roy’s eyes are not actually black, but a really dark blue. Or maybe it’s just the light. Neither of them says anything. They just stare at each other. Then Ed’s drink arrives and startles them both into action. Ed takes a sip, it’s good. 

“Well, my particular favorite is ‘I’ve lost my number, can I have yours?’”, Mustang says, leaning closer to Ed and wagging his eyebrows. Ed bursts out laughing. “God, that’s terrible! How can someone lose their own number, I mean that’s impossible unless you lost your house as well and then you’re implying that you’re homeless and that’s not particularly attractive-”, Ed starts before Roy interrupts him: “I did say it’s stupid and also most people wouldn’t think so far as to get to the homeless conclusion, you know.” Roy seems to notice how close they are now and leans away again. Ed’s not sure how he feels about that so he fiddles with his hair. The ends are starting to split; he should really get it cut at some point.

“Your hair got really long.”, Mustang comments and Ed notices Roy must have been staring. So does Roy, apparently, because he looks like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I know. I should probably cut it-”, Ed starts. “No I like it that way.”, Roy interrupts and then blushes to the roots of his hair and corrects: “I mean, it suits you that way. The ponytail too. You look… older.”.

“I’m also almost three years older than when we last saw each other. Of course I look older.”, Ed says defensively because he’s not sure if there was an implication of his height in there somewhere.

“True.”, Roy says, looking at his drink. Or glass actually, the drink is gone and the glass is empty. So is Ed’s, now that he thinks about it. Mustang orders them each a new one. There’s silence until the drinks arrive. They both take a sip. Then Roy’s head snaps up.

“I just thought of another one.”, Roy says, and clears his throat before continuing: “Did it hurt?” leaning closer again and placing his right hand on Ed’s left. “Did what hurt?”, Ed asks, looking down at their hands. A lot of things hurt. Losing two limbs, getting impaled, … “When you fell from heaven.”, Roy answers with a grin. Ed certainly didn’t expect that to be the punchline. He just stares at Mustang. “Because you’re an angel?”, Roy adds, looking a little uncertain. “No I got it, I just wasn’t expecting that.”, Ed reassures him, smiling a little bit to himself. Roy smiles back. Actually smiles. Not the usual smirk, but an actual smile that touches his eyes. He’s also still really close and Ed doesn’t know how to handle this situation.

Mustang – Roy – must notice he’s this close, but hasn’t moved one millimeter. Roy must be very drunk because Ed can’t find the playboy mask he’s looking for. Ed must also be really drunk because he thinks: ‘ _Roy looks really good in this lighting_ ’, and doesn’t move either.

“Did you know you have one small green spot in your left eye? I never noticed it before.”, Roy says quietly, still not moving. “Yes.”, Ed answers just as quietly. He swallows. He’s never been in this situation before. How does one react? He might have a fever. He feels very warm everywhere. And he means _everywhere_. He also feels a little bit dizzy, but maybe that’s just the alcohol. “We should probably go back to the others. They’re here to celebrate _you_ , after all.”, Ed says. “I must say, I prefer sitting here with you.”, Roy retorts. Then he moves. Just a tiny bit, but it’s enough to startle Ed. He nearly topples off the stool. “I… I have to…. check on Al.”, Ed stammers. He doesn’t have to. He’s not even sure he wants to leave Roy. But he’s not sure how to cope with the situation and that unnerves him. He staggers back to the table and looks back at Roy, who looks surprised and disappointed at the same time. Mustang sighs, gets up, collects their drinks and walks back to the table.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be posting at my convenience, however there will be at least one update per week.


	6. The Path to Xing pt. 4: Central City – Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After celebrating many promotions, everybody has a hangover. For some reason that gets Riza and Alphonse in the mood for plotting, helped along by Gracia Hughes.   
> No amount of plotting is going to make Ed and Al miss their train (well, it could, but maybe not this kind of plotting), so they start their journey.
> 
> Also, Team Mustang returns to Ishval, which pleases the newly promoted Lt. Colonel Miles at least a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so, this Chapter has a lot of PoV jumps, all of them shown through the " ----- " between paragraphs. That's usually the case any other time as well, but just to clarify in case it wasn't clear!  
> Beta'd by the lovely KateTheGoddess.
> 
> Also, side note: As there will be quite a few new names popping up as Ed and Al begin to travel, I will write the names and their meanings at the end of each chapter.
> 
> You will also notice that I spent way too much time reading and rereading "Reverti Ad Praeteritum" by Batsutousai and it might have influenced how I've portrayed the Alchemy in the other countries. When I say might, I mean definitely.   
> I can't remember where I got the notion that Ishval would have Arabic names from, but I think it was ShanaStoryteller's "Ishvalan AU" Series?
> 
> I hereby apologize for plagiarizing your ideas, it just fit perfectly into my headcanon and now it shall remain there. (Please take it as a compliment, I love you both very much)
> 
> I'm rambling (sorryyyyyyyyyy), please enjoy!

Ed and Al are packing their things to go to Liore. Al feels terrible. Alcohol is poison. His brother looks worse than Al feels, which isn’t a big surprise, given the amount of alcohol Ed consumed while apparently flirting with the General. Ed had come back to the table looking dazed out of his mind and they left soon afterwards after hurried goodbyes to the team and a very awkward goodbye between his brother and Mustang. There was a lot of stammering on both sides and an awkward handshake. It was _adorable_.

Ed had been lost in thought the entire way home and fallen asleep almost immediately after getting in. So had Al, actually, but not before seeing a small smile on his brother’s lips.

“So what were you and the General talking about?”, Al asks his brother suspiciously.

“Nothing. Roy was just telling me some of Havoc’s worst pickup lines.”, Ed answers defensively.

“Oh! It looked to me like you and _Roy_ were flirting.”, the younger Elric remarks. His brother looks shocked. “Flirting? We weren’t _flirting_! I don’t know how to flirt and besides, why would _we_ even be _flirting_? I don’t like the bastard and it’s not like he’s interested in _men_ , let alone _me_.”, Ed says very defensively. He’s obviously in denial. “He looked _very_ interested in my opinion. And you were playing with your hair.”, Al says while folding a shirt. “I was just thinking that I need to cut it because the ends are split! That’s all! We were just making fun of Havoc, that’s all we were doing. No flirting. None whatsoever. Nope.”, Ed retorts even more defensively than before. He’s also very red in the face. “If you say so, brother.”, Al tells the elder Elric, chuckling to himself.

 ----- 

“Sir?”, Riza asks her commanding officer. “Yes, Major?”, the General answers unsuspectingly. “You know, Edward isn’t your subordinate anymore, if you’re worried about fraternization laws.”, she retorts. Her childhood friend drops the files he’s holding. “What are you talking about, Riza?”, he then asks innocently. His use of her first name gives away more than his face, which is turned away from her now, but she can almost feel his face growing hot from where she is standing. He only calls her Riza when she catches him doing something stupid. “Please, Sir, don’t insult my intelligence. Even Havoc noticed your interest in Fullmetal and we both know he’s clueless.”, she deadpans.

“I was just having a friendly conversation with my former subordinate, nothing more.”, he retorts defensively. “Friendly.”, she says, raising an eyebrow, even though Roy can’t see it.

“Drop it, Major.”, he tells her. “Yes, sir.”, she says. She won’t drop it. She wants her friend happy and Edward leaving for almost three years made Roy unhappy. If he won’t talk to her, then she has a few calls to make.

 -----

The phone rings. “Alphonse Elric speaking!”, the younger Elric says into the mouthpiece cheerfully. “ _Oh, good. This is Riza Hawkeye speaking. I wasn’t sure what to do if your brother had picked up the phone_.”, the new Major tells him. “Brother is in the shower, what’s up?”, Alphonse asks suspiciously. “ _Well, Alphonse, I have a situation. It seems General Mustang wants to skip on his paperwork by visiting Gracia Hughes today. You wouldn’t mind going over there to remind him to get to work, would you?_ ”, Hawkeye says. Her voice is the same serious tone as always, but he can tell this is a ploy to get the General and Edward in the same room together. “Of course, we should go say goodbye to her anyway. We’ll be leaving tonight, after all. Should I give her a call to know who to expect?”, he asks politely, as if he wasn’t conspiring with General Mustang’s most trusted friend to trick him. “ _No need, I already called ahead._ ”, she tells him. “Alright, then. When will the General be there?”, Alphonse asks just as he can hear the shower turning off.

 -----

Her daughter picked up the phone and was currently chatting with whomever was on the other line. “Mommy! It’s for you!”, Elicia calls from the living room. “Gracia Hughes speaking.”, she says once she collects the phone from her daughter. “ _Mrs. Hughes, this is Major Hawkeye. It seems the General is coming to visit you this afternoon. I hope it will be no intrusion to have the Elric brothers come by as well. They are leaving tonight and I think they may want to say goodbye to you and your daughter._ ”, Hawkeye says. “Of course, I’d love to have them. May I ask why you are telling me this? The boys tend to show up unannounced most of the time.”, she asks the Major, who promptly answers: “ _Well, Mrs. Hughes. I’m sure you’ll agree that General Mustang and Edward seem to be rather interested in each other, but somehow haven’t realized it yet. I am asking you to not tell the General that Edward will be coming. Edward also has no idea that Mustang will be there. Please just make sure the General stays put until Ed gets there._ ” She had noticed Roy looking at Edward whenever the young blond was looking elsewhere. She wasn’t so sure about Ed, but apparently something had happened to give Riza the impression that the feelings were requited. Maes would be thrilled. “Of course, Riza.”

 ----- 

Ed was happy to go see Gracia and Elicia Hughes one last time before heading to Xing. He was surprised he hadn’t even thought about it. They had just been there yesterday, but still. Thankfully his brother is an angel and actually called ahead.

They knock on the front door and Ed hears “No it’s fine, Gracia, I’ll get it”. That sounds like Roy. Either this is a coincidence or his brother is evil. It’s probably the latter. He tries to bolt, but a hand catches him by the ponytail. “No, brother, stay. And fix your hair.”, his conniving, evil brother says calmly. “You’re the one who messed it up in the first place!”, he says angrily, retying his ponytail.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets just as the door opens and there is stupid Roy in his stupid uniform with his stupid face. He looks at his boots. He notices that they need cleaning.

“Well this is certainly a surprise, what are you two doing here?”, Mustang asks. Is Ed just imagining it, or does he actually sound surprised? He looks up to check and Mustang looks at Alphonse, who answers: “We wanted to say goodbye to Mrs. Hughes and Elicia. The Major also asked me to relay to you that you have paperwork to do.” Roy groans. It shouldn’t be sexy. _It’s not sexy_ , Ed tells himself. “Of course she did.”, the totally-not-sexy bastard says before moving aside to let them in.

 ----- 

Roy moves aside to let the brothers in and narrows his eyes at Gracia Hughes, who just smiles sweetly and turns to the Elrics. Both boys have their suitcases with them already. He tries not to be disappointed, but it’s hard knowing that this goodbye is probably for another few years, at least. He should probably go back to the office, but he can’t decide if he’d rather stay here a while longer or be literally anywhere else but here.

“You should probably close that door.”, Edward says behind him. Roy hadn’t even realized he was still clutching the doorknob as if it was a lifeline. He closes it softly before asking: “Where are the others?” “They’re in the kitchen. Al thinks you and I need to talk about last night, but I really don’t know what he’s referring to.”, Ed responds, looking at the closed kitchen door in confusion. “Maybe he thinks I told you pick up lines to actually ‘pick you up’?”, Roy inquires, making quotation marks with his fingers. “Maybe.”, Ed responds before adding: “You weren’t though.” The General isn’t sure if that was a question or a statement, but decides to respond anyway: “Of course not. Why would I?” _You know why_ , a voice in his head, that sounds like Riza, says. “Yeah. I mean, even if you were interested in me, which you’re not, I mean you’re not into men-”, Ed starts. “Right.”, Roy interjects. The young blonde nods before continuing: “-and I don’t like bastards-” _Ouch_ , Roy thinks. “- it would be pointless. I mean we’re both leaving soon.”, Ed finishes. “Yes, so there’s nothing to talk about.”, the older man adds. “Yeah, nothing.”, the elder Elric responds before turning to the kitchen door.

 ----- 

Alphonse and Mrs. Hughes were _not_ listening at the door. “Wow, they’ve got it bad, don’t they?”, Mrs. Hughes says to Al. “Seems like it. We should probably get going soon. The train leaves in an hour.”, Al answers. In that instant the kitchen door opens, revealing Edward and the General. “Al we need to get going soon if we want to catch the train.”, the elder Elric says to his brother.

“Let me drive you. No need to spend money on a cab.”, the General says, pointedly not looking at Edward. “That’s so nice of you, General Mustang. _Isn’t it, Ed_?”, Al notes purposefully. “Sure, I guess.”, the older brother says with a shrug.

“Let me get Elicia, and you can be on your way, boys.”, Mrs. Hughes says to all of them.

“Bye, Uncle Roy! Bye big brother Ed and Al!”, Elicia calls from the front door as Ed, Al and the General pile into the car. “Bye Elicia!”, they call almost in unison.

The drive to the station is quiet. Once there, General Mustang walks them to the platform, looking lost in thought. Then he seems to snap back to reality, extends his hand to Alphonse and says: “Have a safe trip, you two. Maybe come by Ishval sometime, yes? I’m sure Lieutenant Colonel Miles will be happy to see you again.” “Yes I’m sure _Miles_ will be thrilled.”, Al says with a hint of sarcasm. Sure, the Lt. Colonel would be glad to see them, but he gets the feeling that the General would be the one who’s thrilled. Then, the General looks at Ed, who has his hands in his pockets and is looking anywhere but Mustang’s face. “Goodbye, Ed.”, the older man says, extending his hand to the young blonde.

Edward finally looks at Mustang, then stares at the hand between them. Then he looks back at Mustang, slowly pulling his hand out of his pocket and taking the General’s hand. Neither of them dares to let go.

“Bye, Roy.”, Ed says, smiling slightly, as if to himself. The small gesture seems to shatter the General’s façade and he pulls Edward into a tight hug. “Come visit, okay?”, the older man says into the young blonde’s hair. “Okay.”, Ed responds, before letting go, grabbing his suitcase, taking one last look at General Mustang’s face and running towards the train.

 -----

Lieutenant Colonel Faris Miles really wishes Major Riza Hawkeye was unattractive. Everything she says to him is completely devoid of emotion. He can only see her facial expression change when she’s speaking to or about Mustang or the rest of the team. For the longest time he thought Hawkeye and Mustang were an item, and it wasn’t until he asked Jean Havoc about it that he was assured – with a laugh that went on for an eternity – that, no, they were not, have never been, and will never _be_ together in that way.

Something must have shown on his face – he should probably start wearing his sunglasses again, he never gave anything away with his eyes hidden. But the Major had commented that it’s a refreshing change to see his eyes for once – because Havoc adds: “Why are you asking? Interested in the Major?” with a wink.

“What makes you think that? I was simply inquiring because of the fraternity laws. Nothing more.”, Faris lies – in his opinion – incredibly smoothly.

“Right. Well you two certainly deserve each other. Neither of you has a sense of humor.”, Jean says, before walking away, laughing to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual: I will be uploading whenever I have time, but at least once a week, and hope my writing is faster than my uploading! I have a bachelor thesis to write, so we will see how that goes (wish me luck), but after December 16th, I think I'm all yours! As in I will have had my last project presentation, exam, lecture, etc. before that AND the duedate for the thesis, so I will literally be all yours. (Get the pun? I hope not, it's terrible)
> 
> I am rambling again (so sorry, I can't really help it), so let's get back to the topic at hand, shall we?
> 
> As you might have noticed in the last bit, I gave Miles the first name "Faris". I checked, and neither Manga nor Anime have mentioned one, as far as I've been able to tell. Should you for some reason know what his name actually is, do tell me.  
> Now, the list of names begins:
> 
> Name - Meaning (Origin)
> 
> Faris (Miles) - "Knight" (Arabic and Bosnian)


	7. The Path to Xing pt. 5: Liore and Xerxes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al have set out on their journey and arrive in Liore. There they discover some Ishvalans - the ones who used to be hiding around Xerxes - who are now free to go back to their homeland, although some of them decide to remain in Liore.   
> Also, Alphonse finally manages to get Ed to write the General.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's FMA Day everybody!  
> As I am new to writing and AO3, I have no idea what that entails, therefore I am just posting an extra chapter today :D
> 
> As you will be able to tell in a bit, there is a letter correspondence between Ed and Roy. I will be uploading a piece that contains the letters by themselves, so you can always check back if you get confused without having to search for them in the chapters.  
> Again, I will also add a list of names with their meanings in the endnotes.
> 
> Beta'd by the spectacular KateTheGoddess as usual!
> 
> Have fun!

Ed is staring out of the train window, but he’s not seeing the scenery. The spot on his neck where Roy’s breath had stirred his hair still tingles. The older man had hugged him as if it was the last time; as if he never wanted to let go. Ed had felt a sense of loss once he had let go and covered it _expertly_ by running off and onto the train. He had looked at the General one last time and that was probably his biggest mistake. The man’s facial expression had been heart wrenching. Maybe he was wrong and the bastard _does_ like him. In a friendly way, not the other thing. And maybe Ed likes Roy Mustang too. Maybe they’re friends.

Al had been yammering about Liore and Rose’s cooking almost the entire train ride and Ed had made appropriate ‘yeah’ noises the entire time, but now the younger Elric is quiet. “What’s wrong, brother? You seem preoccupied.”, Al asks. “Nothing, Al, just thinking about… stuff.”, Ed replies. “Stuff as in Alchemical formulas, or stuff as in a certain General?”, the younger brother asks suspiciously. Ed’s a terrible liar and he knows it, so he goes for the truth, albeit a slightly censored version: “I was just thinking, maybe Mustang and I are actually friends. Maybe we have been for a while and I was just too preoccupied with everything else to notice.”

“I think you’re right. We’ve made a lot of friends, haven’t we, Ed?”, Alphonse asks, though it sounds more like a statement, and Ed decides to answer: “Yeah, we have.”

 -----

“Dear passengers, we will be arriving at Liore Station in 5 minutes.”, the garbled train voice says. Alphonse and Edward get up to retrieve their luggage and Al says to his brother: “You know, brother, I think you should write the General. Keep him updated.”. “Why on earth would I do that?”, the older brother asks indignantly. “That’s what friends do. I write Winry all the time, so she knows we’re okay.”, the younger man answers. He also writes Winry because he likes getting her replies where she gushes over some new Automail model. He used to just call her, but it got strange after that last face to face conversation.

The train rolls to a stop and Edward responds with a laugh: “I don’t know if the bastard needs to hear we’re okay from _me_ , he always seems to know what I’m doing as soon as I do it anyway.”. As they hop onto the platform, Al responds with: “Come on, Ed, it will be fun!”. Ed seems ready to argue that point, but get saves by a girl, who calls: “Ed! Al! Welcome back!”

It’s Rose. She’s waiting for them on the platform and looks so happy to see them, it warms Al’s heart. She’s also very pregnant.

“Rose! Look at you! Who’s the lucky father?”, Al asks her. When they met her, she was mourning her fiancée and was ready to do anything to bring him back from the dead. It was truly amazing to see her so happy now.

“A man named Latif. He’s an Ishvalan who used to live in the Xerxes ruins before Fuhrer Grumman and General Mustang gave them back their holy land. The entire group passed through here to get to the train to Resembool. It was quite a long walk, after all, so we gave them a warm meal and talked to them about their culture. Here in Liore we understand their devotion to God, even if it is a different God than the one we had once believed in. Latif was so gentle and kind, it was practically love at first sight. I thought maybe it was just me, but when I walked them all to the train station, Latif never got on that train.”, Rose responds looking wistful at the memory. “Is he here, in Liore, now? We’d love to meet the man who makes you smile like that.”, Ed says, in one of those incredibly rare moments when his compassion shines through the loud exterior.

“Yes, he is! He’ll be thrilled to meet you. After all, you boys are part of the reason he can live here in peace. He’s not the only one who stayed, by the way. They saw how we got back up after the whole Cornello fiasco, and I guess they could relate. They helped a lot when we were rebuilding, mainly in the kitchen. It’s sad, a lot of them were so skinny or crippled from the war and what came after that they couldn’t help carry or build.”, Rose responds, looking sad for a second, before her eyes light up and she continues: “They’re so much better now. There are two here, actually, who say they met you, Ed. An old woman named and a young boy called . There’s also a young man called , who seems to think he has to apologize for something.”

“So that’s what they’re called. I’m glad they made it here. They’re good people.”, Ed says thoughtfully, with a smile on his face. The older brother had told Al what had happened in Xerxes when they met up with Maria Ross. He’s quite excited to meet these people who knew Winry’s parents.

They arrive at the café where they had once repaired a radio and see a tall Ishvalan with a large scar starting from his left ear and vanishing beneath a white shirt. He looks strangely familiar, but Al can’t place him. The man calls: “Rose! Darling! Welcome back!” and Al knows this must be Latif. Latif hugs Rose and coos at her belly before turning to the brothers, and calling: “Hello, friends of Rose! You must be the Elric brothers. My wife has told me so much about you. I’m Latif.” “Hey, Latif. I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you, but you look kind of familiar. And I don’t mean that in an ‘All Ishvalans look the same to me’ way.”, Ed responds, tactful as ever. “Really? Perhaps you’ve met my cousin. He’s the one you call Scar.”, Latif says, shocking the both brothers. “Scar has a cousin? He said his entire family was dead.”, Al tells the Ishvalan, who responds: “Yes. The rest didn’t make it out. He wouldn’t have known I was alive. I was sure he was dead as well. When I found out that he was alive I was so happy, but then I heard what he had done, I was so disappointed and angry. I didn’t reach out to him until I heard he had helped to defeat that devil of an enemy and restore our holy lands to make up for his sins. We’re still not very close, but it’s nice to know someone else survived this hell.”

 -----

They had spoken to the Ishvalans who had remained in Liore. Dana and Asif were doing well now, and the man who had attacked Ed – Bahadur – had apologized about five times before he was convinced he was forgiven for something he had never been blamed for in the first place. They had also slept in Liore for one night, packed some rations and set out to Xing, going by the ruins of Xerxes.

The brothers are standing in front of what is left of the mural of the giant transmutation circle that had destroyed Xerxes. “We should destroy it.”, Ed says, but doesn’t move. “Yes, we should.”, Al responds, also not moving. _It’s a shame something so artful and beautiful is so terrible_ , Ed thinks before collecting himself, clapping and turning the mural into dust. “Come on, Al, let’s go.”, the older brother says, setting off towards the giant expanse of sand that will at some point end in Xing. Hopefully.

\-----

Once he’s done writing the letter, he calls to his brother: “There, Al, I wrote the stupid thing.”. Alphonse responds: “Tell the General I say hi!” “Already did. Now, how exactly do I send this to Ishval?”, Ed asks the younger Elric, who just shrugs.

 -----

A few days later, General Roy Mustang receives a worn looking piece of paper with his name written on it in a familiar chicken scrawl. It must be a letter from Ed, though he has no idea why the blonde would write him. He decides to hide it in his desk for a later moment where he can read it in peace.

 

Later that night he pulls the letter out of his desk drawer and begins to read, with a smile slowly spreading across his face:

**Letter 1**

_Hey General Bastard,_

(he can hear Ed saying this as he reads the letter. Somehow ‘General Bastard’ makes Roy smile)

_So, Al thinks I should write you so you know we’re not dead, though I don’t see what the point of that is (as I have already pointed out to my dear brother) since you know where we are and what we’re doing all the time anyway._

_But Al’s getting annoying about it so here we are._

(Thanks Al)

_We’re good, just left Liore (we met a bunch of Ishvalans from the Xerxes ruins, they’re pretty cool) and are heading off to Xing for now (as if you don’t know that). If you wanna reply, we’re gonna be with the Chang clan for a bit. Remember May? The obnoxious princess with the carnivorous panda? We’re gonna try to learn some Alchehestry from her._

(Roy remembers the girl. He had forgotten about the panda, though and laughs at himself at the memory)

_Is Scar in Ishval with you? There was a man in Liore, his name is Latif, who says he’s Scar’s cousin. He asked me to relay that he’s finally proud to be related to him and to keep up the good work or something like that. Could you tell him that? Thanks._

_How is Ishval by the way? Everyone doing okay?_

_Ed_

_PS: Al says hi._

 

Roy is still smiling once he’s finished reading the letter. He gets up and relays Latif’s message to Scar, getting a very unenthusiastic response, and begins his return letter immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of names: Name - "Meaning" (Origin)
> 
> Faris (Miles) - "Knight” (Arabic and Bosnian)  
> Latif - “gentle, kind” (Arabic)  
> Asif - "forgiveness" (Arabic)  
> Bahadur - "hero, warrior, brave" (Persian and Arabic)  
> Shan is the original name in the Manga as far as I know


	8. Xing and Alchehestry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elric brothers have finally arrived in Xing, where they face certain... complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by the ever wonderful KateTheGoddess
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this!
> 
> I know this is kinda short for so much time to pass in this chapter, however I felt like it wasn't super important as this is RoyEd and Xing is kinda Al/May. If you want a more detailed account of the time in Xing, tell me and I'll write a long version for you guys :)
> 
> Again, I ask you, what pairing do you want concerning Alphonse and Winry? Winry/Paninya, Winry/Al, Al/May?
> 
> Love you all!

They don’t even notice they’ve crossed the border until they’re surrounded by Xingan warriors. Al gets into his fighting stance and feels his brother do the same. A man is shouting at them, but they don’t understand Xingan so they can’t even explain that they’ve been invited by the emperor.

“Hello. I apologize, we don’t speak Xingan. But we have an official invitation from emperor Ling Yao with us. My name is Alphonse Elric and this is my brother Edward.”, Alphonse says, hoping somebody understands them. Apparently someone does, and says: “Nevertheless, you are in Chang territory and we cannot know if you are speaking the truth. Documents can be forged. How can we know you are who you claim to be?”

The rest of the group murmurs in agreement, but has let down their guard slightly. “You are the Changs? That’s fantastic! We wanted to visit May anyway, but we weren’t sure exactly where her clan lives.”, the younger brother says, completely dropping his fight stance for all appearances. He still is ready for an attack, but he feels like showing no hostility is probably better. “The princess? We cannot let you see her. We do not know you and cannot let anyone harm her. If you say you know her, we can send a message and if she vouches for you, we will let you through. You will wait here with some of our men until we receive and answer.”, the Xingan answers.

“You can tell her the Elric brothers are here. Tell her there’s a short grumpy one-”, Al starts and there is the anticipated “Hey!” from aforementioned brother. He continues: “And a tall one with short hair. Tell her she can finally see the armored boy without his armor. She will understand.”

“Very well.”, the Xingan man says and then relays that in Xingan to the man next to him who immediately runs off – to send the message, Al assumes – and then they wait.

 

Only two hours have passed since they had sent the message, when May herself comes to greet them. She has grown into a beautiful young lady by now. Shao May is still perched on her shoulder and squeaks happily when she spots the brothers. So does May. She runs at the two Amestrians with a very loud “Alphonse! Edward!”.

“May! It’s so good to see you! You’ve really grown up, haven’t you?”, the younger Elric responds, hugging the girl tight and patting the panda on the head. May blushes and retorts “Well it’s been three years, after all. You could have said you were coming, then there would have been no need for all _this_.”, gesturing at the men looking rather baffled at the exchange.

Edward answers her this time: “We wanted to surprise you. We did get an official invitation from Ling, but they thought it was forged.” May looks at her clansmen at that and says something in Xingan in an irritated tone. The man who had spoken to them looked startled and bowed. “We should really learn Xingan, brother.”, Alphonse whispers to his brother who just nods.

 -----

When Edward receives a reply, he is strangely excited. Feeling extremely weird about the entire experience, he opens the letter and reads it:

 

** Letter 2  
**

_Dear brat,_

(Brat? _Brat?!_ )

_Thanks for the letter. No I don’t know what you’re doing all the time. You’re not my subordinate, so I don’t need to keep tabs on you._

(Ed’s pretty sure that’s a lie)

_It’s nice to know you’re both doing well and that the Ishvalans up there are happy too._

_How’s Xing? Learn anything useful yet?_

(So far, no.)

_Yes, Scar is indeed in Ishval. I have given him Latif’s message and he said: ‘Yeah, yeah.’_

(Ed’s not surprised)

_Ishval is sandy and hot, but what do you expect. It’s nice to make new memories to replace the ones we made the last time we were here._

(Ed’s smile slips as he realizes how painful the entire experience must be for them)

_Breda is ogling a pretty Ishvalan healer, it’s actually pretty funny. We keep telling him to go for it, but he just won’t listen. He thinks she will hate him for being in the military._

(What a fool)

_Roy_

_PS: That’s nice of Al. Tell him hi back and also not to break any royal hearts._

 

Still feeling extremely uncomfortable, Ed responds.

 -----

Bandits tried to raid the encampment. A construction site was demolished. The coffee machine broke. A bad day, basically. Coming back from that long day, Roy finds an envelope on his desk. Seeing the handwriting, Roy grins. _Maybe it’s not such a bad day after all_ , he thinks, opening the letter and reading it:

 

**Letter 3**

_Well, Roy, I don’t believe you. I’m sure you’re still keeping tabs on me, just to be annoying or something. _

(Of course you’d think that)

_Yeah, I know what you mean. Latif is actually with Rose (do you remember Rose?) and they’re having a baby soon. I’m really happy for all of them._

(Roy is very happy for them too. It’s uplifting to know that something good came out of this tragedy)

_Xing is Xing. We almost got murdered at the border because no one believed we were the Elric brothers until May showed up._

(Oh dear, I hope the Xingans are okay)

_Speaking of May: I think the breaking royal hearts might be a problem. May and Al are dating now. It’s really quite adorable. But we have to leave at some point, so who knows how that’s going to work out._

(‘Oh dear, I hope Alphonse is okay’, Roy thinks, remembering the girl’s temperament)

_Alchehestry is hard. The whole Dragon’s Pulse thing is just stupid. Al got the hang of it really quickly, of course, and I’m just sitting here being useless. _

(Edward is surely going to get it soon too, but Roy still feels bad for him.)

_Tell Breda that Al and I think he’s being an idiot. She won’t hate the military for helping rebuild their holy land, and you guys were really important in giving them their rights back._

(This gives him an idea. Perhaps he should invite the brothers to come by)

_Ed_

 

Feeling much better than a few minutes prior, Roy replies, smiling.

 -----

They’ve been in Xing for half a year, staying with the Chang clan. After exactly 5 months, Alphonse finally got the hang of the dragon’s pulse. Two weeks after that, Edward realized he had gotten it a while ago, but was focusing on different things. He had gotten the qi sensing down very quickly, but hadn’t realized it until later. It wasn’t until someone else had told him that qi sensing needed understanding of the dragon’s pulse after watching him spar with a Xingan fighting instructor and catching every sneak attack. It had taken them both until now to be able to translate it into Alchehestry.

They also learned how to use throwing knives in the process, which was pretty neat in Ed’s opinion. Both brothers were excellent at close combat and Alchemy, but sometimes there was no time to clap. Which meant, with long distance targets, the throwing knives came in very handy. Also, Ed couldn’t alchemize his arm into a blade anymore, so this was another plus point. Xingan fighting was very different from the one they learned from their Teacher and so they decided to train in this foreign style as well. Ed was sure it would come in handy at some point, especially since being able to travel by the rooftops like Lan Fan and Fu – may he rest in peace – seemed a lot faster than trying to navigate foot traffic.

 -----

This time, when Ed gets Roy’s response, he’s genuinely thrilled about it.

 

**Letter 4**

_Well, Ed, you should believe me._

(‘Whatever you say, Roy’, Ed thinks)

_Was Rose the girl in Liore who helped with the whole Leto debacle?_

(Oh the Leto debacle. Good times.)

_I doubt you would have been murdered entering Xing. I know how well you two fight, you would have probably just maimed the poor people trying to protect their territory._

(Roy is quite wrong. They would have absolutely _destroyed_ them)

_Oh dear, that can’t go well. I hope May doesn’t kill your brother._

( _Too late!_ )

_You’re going to get The Dragon’s Pulse soon, I’m sure. I have yet to meet someone as stubborn and talented as you._

(He actually got it. Also, stubborn and talented? Ed blushes slightly and hopes nobody notices.)

_I told Heymans the same thing, and yet he hasn’t done anything about it. I think you and your brother will have to come to Ishval and beat some sense into the man yourselves._

(That may not be a bad idea. It’s not really a detour)

_Roy_

 

He relays the contents of the letter to Alphonse, leaving out the ‘talented’ part, and replies immediately.

 ----- 

About a month in, Edward noticed how Alphonse and May were growing closer. He wasn’t sure if that would work out in the long run, but he was glad his little brother was moving on from Winry, even though he thought his best friend would come around at some point.

But Alphonse wasn’t moving on. He was distracting himself from Winry with May. And May is a smart girl so of course she found out after about 8 months. Edward isn’t proud of it, but he listened in on the conversation:

“ **Why are you with me Alphonse**?”, the girl asks in Xingan.

“ **You know why, May. You’re fierce and smart and beautiful. Why else would I be with you?** ”, Alphonse responds in the girl’s mother tongue as well, sounding nervous.

“Because I’m a good distraction. You speak about Winry all the time and your facial expression… When you speak about her… You never look at me like that. You love her.”, May says in Amestrian this time, and her tone brokers no argument.

“Of course I love her. She’s my best friend and practically my sister.”, the young man says, continuing in Amestrian as well.

“That’s not the kind of love I’m talking about. Did she turn you down? Is that it? Is that why you’re here, with me? Are you running away from her?”, the Xingan princess says in an accusing tone.

“I- No. That’s not it. We came here because we wanted to see you and possibly learn Alchehestry. I’m not running from anything.”, Al retorts, though there is less conviction in his voice than earlier.

“Yes. Yes, you are. I’m not stupid, Alphonse. Please, just go. Go home.”, the girl then says, resigned.

“Are- Are you breaking up with me?”, Alphonse asks. Ed isn’t sure if his little brother sounds sad or relieved.

“Yes, I am. I will not be some rebound. And I will not compete for your affection with your childhood friend. I know when I’ve been beaten.”, May retorts.

“May, please -”, the blonde begs. He should know better, may isn’t one who is appeased by begging.

“Go home Alphonse.” The girl spits and she storms off.

 

So they leave. They still have to visit Ling, after all.

 -----

Roy notices he’s started a routine around the letters. Every time he makes himself a cup of black coffee, even though he prefers milk and sugar in it, because that’s how Ed drinks it and somehow it feels more like he’s here with him, instead of some far off country. Sipping his coffee, he opens the letter and reads:

 

** Letter 5 **

_Fine, Roy. I believe you._

(About time)

_Yes, Rose is the one!_

_You don’t know Xingan fighting as well as I do, they would have absolutely flattened us._

(I doubt that, honestly. Those two are scary)

_Well, funny story, so May found out that Al has a thing for Winry and went pretty berserk. Al’s alive, but yeah. We’re leaving the Changs now._

(Oh dear, poor Alphonse)

_You were right, I actually got The Dragon’s Pulse, like, the day I sent the letter._

_I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted when you call me stubborn._

(Of course he got it. The little freak. And of course he went for stubborn instead of talented)

_We’ll see. Maybe we’ll come to Ishval on our way home? It’s right by Resembool after all._

(His heart jumps slightly. It must be the caffeine)

_Ed_

_PS: For replies: We’ll be at the Imperial Palace visiting Ling._

 

Grinning, Roy replies.

 -----

Getting letters from Roy no longer feels strange. He’s actually excited every time he gets them. He opens it, reading:

 

**Letter 6**

_Did you learn Xingan fighting over there as well? Because that will come in handy. As long as you don’t use it on me (please)._

(Only if you ask nicely)

_Oh dear, I’m sure Alphonse was wishing he was still in the armor during the fight with May. I hope he doesn’t need a new one now._

(Probably)

_See , I told you you’d get it. It was a compliment, actually, but you’re free to interpret it any way you like._

(In that case: Insult it is!)

_I’m sure everybody here would be thrilled to see you. They have incredible coffee here, by the way. Very strong. Very black. You’d love it._

(At the word coffee, he makes up his mind. He will definitively go to Ishval)

_Roy_

_PS: Tell his Majesty hello from me and that I’ll be writing to him soon regarding better travel and trade routes._

(Oh wow, Roy, you suck-up)

 

He doesn’t reply right away this time. He has to give Roy’s message to Ling first. Thankfully, they are already at the palace.

 ----- 

Since they actually called ahead this time, when they arrive at the imperial palace they get escorted through right away. Ling is waiting for them in the dining hall that could probably fit Central Library in it.

“Ed! Al! So nice to see you both! Please, sit!”, the emperor says, so they sit.

“Hey Ling! Now you don’t have to mooch off of me anymore! How are you doing?”, Ed says and one of Ling’s guard hisses at his tone. He sticks out his tongue.

“ **Should I cut out his tongue, emperor?** ”, the man says furiously, in Xingan, resting his hand on his sword. “ **No need, this man is my closest friend.** ”, said emperor responds at the same time as Ed says: “ **I’d like to see you try.** ”, also in Xingan, making Ling laugh and the guard furious. Al smacks his brother over the head.

“I see you’ve learned our language! How nice. Now tell me, Ed, what have you brothers been up to?”, Ling asks, and thus they begin recapping their travels up until this point.

 -----

Having made his ritual black coffee, Roy opens Ed’s letter, reading:

 

**Letter 7**

_We did, actually. It’s awesome. I won’t use Xingan fighting on you (probably), but Al says he makes no promises (I have no idea what he’s trying to insinuate)._

(Me neither, but it scares me)

_I think Al’s torn. The armor sucked, but that slap would have hurt a lot less. The only thing he’s injured is his dignity, he’ll be fine._

_Stop , Roy, you’re making me blush._

(Is that sarcasm? It’s probably sarcasm)

_Well, if you put it that way, we’ll have to come to Ishval for coffee._

(His heart makes that funny little flip again. The black coffee is at fault.)

_Ed_

_PS: Ling says hi back and he’ll be awaiting your proposal, you brownnosing idiot. Also, we’re going to Youswell now, reply-wise. Just send it to Mayor Halling, he’ll get it to me._

(Brownnosing is a bit harsh, but Ed’s not wrong)

 

Chuckling at the entire contents of the letter he gets to replying, feeling excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be uploading new chapters at least once a week (on Sundays usually), and sometimes more. I hope I'll get done with this before the upload schedule catches up, but it's looking pretty good, so yeah!
> 
> No new names this time :)
> 
> Letter are collectively in the "Letters From Coming Home" work. I put the letter number on top of every letter, so it's easier to find in the collective work (Chapter Number = Letter Number).


	9. The Path to Aerugo pt. 1: Youswell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After departing from Xing, the Elric brothers make a detour to Youswell on the way of their actual detour to Ishval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's a really REALLY short chapter, but I promise the next one is much longer and also much juicier. *winks*
> 
> I've had a really long day, studying for an exam (that's tomorrow, I'm only panicking slightly) for a subject I have absolutely no interest in (it's mandatory even if it has nothing to do with what I'm studying, which sucks), and I felt like ending the day on a high note by posting this tiny little chapter.
> 
> Beta'd by my dear trashbuddy KateThe Goddess.

The letter is waiting for him in the Youswell Inn. Ed grins and opens it.

 

**Letter 8**

_Now I’m scared. And surprised you know words like ‘insinuate’. (Don’t kill me)_

(You should be scared. Al can be very scary. Also I will kick your butt for that jab at my vocabulary)

_Are you being sarcastic? It’s hard to tell without seeing your face._

(What and idiot. Of course I’m being sarcastic)

_I’ll have a cup of coffee waiting for you._

(Hell yeah! Coffee!)

_How is Youswell doing? Are they up and running again?_

_Roy_

_PS: It’s called being polite, Ed. Maybe you should try it?_

(No it’s not. It’s brownnosing)

 

Thinking of coffee, Ed goes to bed with a smile on his face.

\-----

About a month after meeting with the current emperor of Xing, the Elric brothers arrive in Youswell, after running into some bandits that are now quite weapon- and pants-less. But that’s another story entirely. They are immediately greeted by Khayal, who bellows: “Edward! So good to see you again! My dad will be so thrilled! Come, come!” “Hey, Khayal. Long time no see! Wow, you have really grown up! How old are you now?”, the older brother answers, getting an immediate response: “17. You must be, what, 20 now?” “19. But I’ll be 20 in about a month.”, Ed retorts. They’re almost at Halling’s Tavern when Khayal asks Alphonse: “Sorry, I mean to ask, who are you?” The younger brother laughs and says: “We’ve met, Khayal. I’m Ed’s brother, Alphonse. I was in that giant suit of armor though, so you wouldn’t recognize me now, I guess.” “Oh! Al! I’m so sorry. I recognize your voice now. Wow my dad will be so happy to see you both.”, the youngest man says happily, his qi supporting his claim. They’ve just entered the tavern and there’s a chorus of ‘Ed!’s and some confused ‘Is that Al?’s.

“Hey guys! I’m sorry we’re just passing through, but we thought we’d come by on the way home. How have you been? It’s been, what? Five years?”, Edward says to nobody and everybody at once. Halling is the one that answers him: “Pretty much. Good to see you boys. Especially you, Alphonse. Good to see your face for the first time. We’ve been great, actually, how about you? Thanks again, by the way, for getting rid of that idiot, Yoki.”

“It was our pleasure, sir. We’ve been well, thank you. After recovering from that whole debacle in Central we visited Xing and now we’re heading home for a bit and going to Aerugo after that.”, Alphonse responds, polite as ever.

“That sounds like quite the adventure! Come, sit. Tell us all about it.”, Halling requests and they tell him and the rest of the tavern all about bandits and emperors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic gets updated at least once a week (on Sunday usually), and more often when I've had a really long day and need to do something which brings me happiness. 
> 
> No new names this chapter :)


	10. The Path to Aerugo pt. 2: Ishval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elric brothers finally make it to Ishval, which makes certain people very happy. Also there are birthdays. And presents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay slightly longer chapter for once! Was planning on keeping it for Sunday, but I kind of wanted to post it now.
> 
> Beta'd by KateTheGoddess!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> PS: if you notice some weird inconsistencies (I changed the ranks at some point and might have missed some etc), please tell me!

Captain Heymans Breda _hates_ his uniform. He also hates his belly. And his red hair. But he loves a woman whose name he doesn’t know. He’s seen her around the camp plenty of times and here’s what he knows about her: she’s Ishvalan, she’s a healer, she’s fierce as all hell and she’s _way_ out of his league.

“Just ask her out already.”, Jean Havoc tells him when he catches Heymans staring. They’ve had this conversation before, and yet he has to tell him again: “First of all, I don’t even know her _name_. Second, she’s Ishvalan and I’m military. She probably hates me for that alone. Also, _look_ at her and then look at _me_. She’s a goddess and I’m fat.”

At this point, General Mustang joins the argument, and says: “Her name’s Shula, and I doubt she hates you. You’re here to rebuild her people’s holy land and you’ve fought for their rights. If you’re so worried about your appearance, then just eat healthier. At least she’s here, unlike _some_ people. So just get off your butt and at least get to know her.”

He’s right of course. Kain calls Sheska every night before bed and Jean is still mad at Mustang for transferring him, _again_ , right after he got himself a girlfriend. And Mustang is always ‘ _secretly_ ’ reading and writing letters to Ed.

“Fine. I’ll do it. Tomorrow.”, Heymans says, but he doesn’t do it the next day, or the day after that. In fact, he doesn’t do it until the Elric brothers arrive out of the blue.

 -----

The reply comes only three days after Roy sent his last letter. He opens it immediately.

**Letter 9**

_What’s that supposed to mean? I know big words too, you bastard._

(No you don’t, Edward)

_Yes, I’m being sarcastic, you idiot._

(Of course he was. Shame, red suits Ed)

_Fan-fucking-tastic. I would travel to the ends of the earth for good coffee._

(He suspected as much. Maybe they will actually come visit. He really hopes they will)

_They’re doing great, actually. Positively flourishing. (See? Big words!)_

(Nice try, Fullmetal)

_We’re leaving Youswell now and heading home. Maybe we’ll see you soon._

(I hope home means here because black coffee is a poor substitute to your bitterness)

_Ed_

_PS: Being polite is for politicians and manipulative bastards. Oh wait, that fits perfectly, doesn’t it?_

(That was definitively uncalled for)

 

No sooner has he put the letter away, planning to reply once he’s done for the day, he hears Major Riza Hawkeye say: “Sir? There’s someone here to see you.”

Is it just his imagination or can he detect amusement in her voice? He looks up from his monstrous pile of paperwork and there are two blond boys standing in the entrance of his tent. He hopes his shock doesn’t show in his face as he says: “Edward, Alphonse, I didn’t think you would actually grace us with your presence! It’s good to see you both. How was your trip?” The elder Elric responds with: “I was told there would be coffee.” And Alphonse elbows his brother in the ribs and says, in Xingan: “ ** _Brother_ , be nice.**” 

The Elrics don’t know that and taught him her mother tongue when he was a child. He decides to keep this particular secret to himself, one never knows when it might come in handy. The General smiles at the boy’s behavior as it is refreshing that they haven’t changed one bit.

“Well, as I didn’t expect you to actually come here, I wasn’t prepared. Why don’t you come say hello to the rest of the team and I’ll get you that coffee?”, the older man proposes. The brothers both nod and start towards the exit of the tent just as Roy gets there himself. “Please, you first.”, he says to the boys. “No, no you go first.”, Edward responds.

He hopes Alphonse and Riza can’t sense the awkward tension in the air, but that hope is short lived because Alphonse just rolls his eyes and says: “I’ll just go first, shall I?” and strides out of the tent chuckling to himself. Even Hawkeye looks like she’s about to laugh, which is a very rare sight.

The woman exits the tent after Alphonse and nods to Lt. Colonel Miles, who appears to have been in the process of fetching the General for some reason or other and then caught Riza’s expression. Roy can’t help but notice the gleam in the Major’s eyes. The man must have never seen the Major smile, she so rarely does. He archives his observation for another time and looks at the young man standing next to him.

Edward is the same height as him and Roy still startles every time he notices this. It seems like yesterday and also like a lifetime ago that he found a little boy in a wheelchair with a suit of armor standing over him instead of a grown man. Edward is frowning at his brother’s back and suddenly looks at Roy with those golden eyes of his. The General realizes he must have been staring and quickly looks out of the tent, clears his throat and just points over to where Alphonse is talking to Breda.

The blonde nods and walks quickly to join his brother. The older man turns to the right instead to go look for some coffee.

Once Roy is in the tent that contains the coffee he realizes it must be Alphonse’s birthday soon. He makes two cups of coffee and hurries back to his tent to check his calendar. It is indeed Alphonse’s birthday today. _Well damn_ , he thinks, _I don’t have a present_.

The coffee will be getting, not cold, exactly, but lukewarm soon if he doesn’t get going. He quickly alchemizes two wooden cats out of a large stack of binned paperwork. As most Amestrian military paperwork works with the colors green, light brown and black, he decided to make one of the cats a brown one with black stripes and the other just black, using the green for the eyes and letting the excess ink drip to the ground. The black cat looks curled up, like it’s sleeping and the one that looks like a miniature tiger is sitting and licking its paw. Roy thinks he did a relatively good job, so he briskly walks to join the Elric brothers and his team. 

Alphonse is beside himself with joy and practically squeals in delight when he receives the unwrapped gift, and Edward wears that rare smile that he only gets when he sees that his brother is happy. Roy hasn’t seen it for a long time and can’t but smile himself. Riza shoots him a knowing look and the General quickly looks at Alphonse instead who is thanking him excessively and then actually hugs him.

 

Night has fallen by now and his team, Lt. Colonel Miles, the Ishvalan healer - Shula - and the Elric Brothers gather around a large campfire. Edward stands awkwardly in front of the empty spot next to Roy. After about a minute of just staring at the spot he finally sits down next to the General. They don’t say anything, just watch Alphonse chatting with Shula for a while.

Then, without looking away, Edward says: “That was really nice of you, giving Alphonse that gift. He hasn’t gotten a birthday present from anyone but me since we left Izumi’s.” Roy looks at Ed in surprise, not being used to the young man saying anything that isn’t either sarcastic or downright mean to him. The light from the fire dances across Ed’s face, making his hair look almost black while his eyes shine like molten gold. It also makes the angles of his cheek bones and jawline stand out. He’s smiling again, this time a mixture of sadness and joy, making him look so much older than his years. The contrast makes Ed look not just handsome, but beautiful, like fire made flesh, his looks a mirror of his personality.

Still looking at Ed, the older man says: “It was my pleasure. After all you’ve been through, he deserves to be happy, you both do.”. The young man looks up at Roy and says: “You really think so? I’m not sure I _deserve_ to be happy, though Al definitely does. He’s done nothing wrong, but I put him in that armor and I’m the one who can’t truly forgive our father and is taking Al’s chance to be a family because of that.”

“You’re a good man, Ed. Unlike me, you have never taken a life, even when you were ordered to. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s you.”, the General responds.

Edward whips his head around to stare at the older man and says: “You realize you deserve happiness as much as Al does. You’re atoning for the suffering you’ve caused, aren’t you? So quit believing you don’t get to be happy.” Edward’s eyes look huge in his face. The blonde opens his mouth to say something more when they hear an explosion coming from near the makeshift hospital they’ve built. The young man’s eyes widen further and he jumps up, dashing toward the sound, his brother and the rest of the group at his heels.

 ----- 

When Roy gets to the building used as a hospital, he sees Edward, Alphonse, and Scar fighting what seems to be bandits at first glance. The explosion must have come from Scar, as a signal to the other’s in the camp, since nothing was damaged except for the floor. The General’s team joins the fight, but Roy seems to be paralyzed. He can’t help recalling the last time he fought here, the blood of thousands of people on every surface and fire lighting up the faces of countless human beings. He hears Ed shout and looks over at the young man, noticing that he is moving differently than he used to. He doesn’t recognize the fighting style, and observes that the blonde is also avoiding using his left arm. Roy sees blood dripping onto the sand, but can’t see the source of it in this darkness. The scene looks oddly familiar, and he thinks it’s the Ishvalan War until he sees Ed kick out his opponent’s legs from under him.

He remembers, now.

_On the Promised Day, he stood in the doorway to the large room where he killed Lust and saw Edward fighting the mannequin soldiers with Scar and a bunch of Chimeras. They were losing. All he could see was Edward, older than he remembered him, losing. Edward, all flashy colors and personality, hacking at the creatures’ legs. Edward seeing him and looking so unbelievably happy to see him, like Roy was a godsend gift, like Roy was more than a human weapon. Edward, looking heartbroken at the incineration of mindless dolls, simply because souls had been infused into their thoughtless bodies._  

Roy had thought nothing of it, thought it was simple protectiveness of his charge. Watching Ed fighting now, he knows it wasn’t fear for his subordinate. This was more. This was seeing a grown man instead of a child, an equal, a moral compass, a friend. This was seeing a beautiful creature, all gold, red and black, losing a battle. But Edward wasn’t losing now.

The young blonde was strapping the bandits to the floor with sand made stone, preoccupied, when someone snuck up on him. Edward noticed, but he wasn’t fast enough. The bullet meant for his head strikes his arm, the left arm, the one he was already holding awkwardly, and Roy sees red. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing, but he’s broken the shooter’s wrist and is kneeling on the man’s shoulders, beating the man bloody, shouting obscenities, until someone pulls him off the unconscious assailant.

He looks at Edward and the young man is lying on the ground, staring at him, blood pooling slowly around his left side, obviously trying to stay conscious, and reaches out to Roy, who runs to him. “You’re an idiot, Roy.”, the young blonde says, his eyes closing and this time he doesn’t open them again.

 ----- 

There’s pain everywhere, he knows one guy managed to cut his side and his arm in one swing, his ribs might be fractured and now he sees the barrel of a gun, pointing at his face. He dodges but the bullet catches the already injured arm and he stumbles, falling to his knees. He knows that he must be losing a lot of blood- the bullet must have ruptured something, and everything is hazy. He sees the world tilting as Roy runs past him. The man breaks the guy’s wrist, making him drop the gun, and tackles him to the ground.

Roy is sitting on the shooter, punching him while yelling: “How _dare_ you! You _fucking miserable cunt_!” Ed’s _never_ heard Roy swear before. He’s a little bit impressed. Havoc has pulled the General off the unconscious man and Ed sees Roy looking at him, his expression open, his face almost the same as when he was burning Envy. Ed wants to tell Roy that everything is fine, he won’t die on him, he won’t go the way Hughes did. He must have reached for him because the older man is running towards him. The General kneels next to the blonde and the latter mutters: “You’re an idiot, Roy.”, before everything goes dark.

 -----

“General, he won’t wake up faster just because you’re sitting next to him. He’ll wake up when he’s ready, the body takes time to heal, even with Alchehestry.”, the younger Elric says to Roy, who hasn’t left Edward’s side since the young man had passed out. “Go interrogate the prisoners, Roy. You know Ed would be furious if he knew you’re just sitting here when there’s bad people out there.” Alphonse’s use of his first name wakes Roy from his stupor. “Yes. Yes of course, you’re right. Please, Alphonse, tell me when he wakes up.”, the General requests before making his way to the makeshift prison Alphonse had erected after the fight.

 

The cells are tiny, each prisoner alone in one. There were no casualties, which is a miracle. The only ones seriously injured in this fight were the man who shot Ed and Ed himself, and both would make a full recovery.

Roy goes up to the nearest prisoner, an Amestrian middle-aged woman, and just sits down in front of the cell. He had initially thought the attackers had been bandits, but upon closer observation they were too well dressed, too well groomed. He thinks he knows what this is about, but asks anyway: “Why?” The woman’s blue eyes look dead, there is deep seated grief in them, now turned into hate. “My husband, my brother and my son were killed right here, in Ishval. Ishvalans killed them, and here you are, rewarding them for murdering my family. Why should they get to live and be happy after taking everything from me?”, the woman spits.

“There are children here, who have done nothing wrong. There are also Amestrians here who have killed countless innocent people, right here in Ishval. There are even Amestrians here who are innocent themselves, who have fought to save this country. One of them is a 19- year old boy, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. I assume you’ve heard of him? He saved your life and everyone else’s, as did the Ishvalans here. Edward is currently unconscious from blood loss. One of your friends here tried to shoot him in the head. He and his brother are both innocent in this and yet he is the one most severely injured.”, Roy tells her.

The woman looks shocked and answers haltingly: “We had agreed, no guns. I- I don’t know why someone tried to shoot him. My son was his age when he was killed.” The hate has left her eyes, leaving grief in its place.

The General feels sorry for this woman. But she and her colleagues tried to kill Ed, so he pushes it from his mind and says: “War takes lives, I am aware. But this war is over. The Ishvalans here are ones that fled, most of them weren’t a part of this war. They are not at fault. You are taking out your hate of a few on people who have done nothing to deserve it. It was the military who killed your family by starting a war just to make a nationwide transmutation circle. And we are making amends for the decision of our former superiors.”

The woman just stares at him for a minute, before saying: “You’re the Flame Alchemist.”

“Yes, I am.”, Roy confirms. “You fought in the Ishvalan war. You lost friends in this war. How can you forgive these people?”, she asks him, and it seems like an honest question, so he says: “These people are citizens of Amestris, as are you. These people here have done nothing wrong. They defended themselves against an army marching into their homeland and killing their families. They helped us save this country, even after we took their homes and their families from them. They are not the ones who need to be forgiven, we are.”

The woman seems to be at loss for words. He has learned what he can from this woman, so he decides to get back to the hospital. He gets up, starts walking to the door, turns around one last time and says: “I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child, I am sorry for your loss.” 

As he walks out the door he can hear the woman sobbing. He keeps walking until he reaches Ed’s bed and sits down on the chair next to it, waiting.

 -----

Ed can hear people talking, but he can’t seem to open his eyes or move. Everything still hurts and he’s not sure he’s actually awake. 

“General, he won’t wake up faster just because you’re sitting next to him. He’ll wake up when he’s ready, the body takes time to heal, even with Alchehestry.”, he hears his brother say.

“Go interrogate the prisoners, Roy. You know Ed would be furious if he knew you’re just sitting there when there’s bad people out there.”, the younger Elric adds before Roy answers: “Yes. Yes of course, you’re right. Please, Alphonse, tell me when he wakes up.”

Ed wants to tell them he’s awake, he’s fine, to stop worrying, but he’s not sure if any of that is true and also he can’t because his mouth doesn’t want to open up. Besides, he can already feel Roy’s qi following him out of the room.

“ **The General is very worried about you, brother. I am, too. I know you can hear me, Ed, I can feel it in your _qi_. We caught everyone. No casualties. Only you and the guy who shot you are seriously injured and you’ll both be fine. Go back to sleep now, brother, you need to heal.** ”, Alphonse tells him in Xingan. Edward is glad, everyone made it out of the fight alive. He lets the darkness take him under again.

When he wakes back up again he still can’t open his eyes or move, but he knows how Alchehestry works, it takes your energy to heal you, so this will wear off once the process is done. He can feel something warm on his right hand and someone’s concerned qi quivering next to him. There is something else in that qi, but Ed can’t seem to place it.

“Come back to me, Ed. Everybody says you’re fine and this just takes time, but I can’t believe them until you wake up.”, he hears Roy’s voice say. The warmth on his hand moves. It must be Roy’s hand. Maybe it’s the half conscious state, but he’s pleased. _I will, this just takes time, you idiot, so stop worrying_ , he wants to say.

His fingers twitch in Roy’s hand and Ed can hear the older man say: “Ed? Ed, can you hear me? Are you awake?” Roy’s voice sounds a little bit panicked. Ed tries to move something, anything, to say _Yes, I can hear you_ , but nothing moves. Roy’s hand tightens on his almost painfully, as the man says: “Damnit, Ed, don’t give me false hopes.”

 -----

“Damnit, Ed, don’t give me false hopes.”, Roy tells the unconscious man. It’s probably better that he can’t hear him. The General doesn’t want the other to know just how much he cares for a man half his age. Roy’s hand tightens around Ed’s before he lets go to touch the blonde’s forehead. _Alchehestry takes the energy of the person who is being healed. It speeds up the process of the body’s own healing ability. That’s why Ed’s body feels hot to the touch and why he’s asleep_ , Alphonse had said. Ed’s forehead isn’t as hot anymore, which means he should wake up soon.

Roy looks at the blonde properly for the first time since he’s come to Ishval. He most likely will be the exact mirage of Hohenheim when he’s older, same stocky build, same coloration. Even his facial structure will probably be the same. His lips are fuller than Hohenheim’s and his eyes are larger, though they are the same shape. The Elric’s mother must have been a beautiful woman. Roy moves his hand from the young man’s forehead, brushing the blond bangs out of his face and sees golden eyes staring up at him.

“Ed! Thank God, I was so worried.” Roy says, standing up and hugging the blonde tightly. “Ouch, Roy, my ribs are _already_ broken. And God’s a myth. You should be thanking Al instead.”, Ed responds weakly. Roy lets go and sits back down in his chair and takes Ed’s hand again. “Have you been sitting here the whole time? Where’s my brother?”, Ed asks. “No, I left for a bit to talk to the prisoners, and Al’s checking on other people.”, Roy responds. “Okay, good. What did they say?”, the young blonde inquires, and the General responds: “This was a hate crime. The woman I talked to lost her family in the war. I imagine the others had similar reasons.”

Ed looks sad and says: “I see. But then why shoot me?” “I have no idea. She said they had agreed on no guns. I guess we’ll know more once the idiot who shot you wakes up.”, Roy responds. Ed says nothing to that, just looks at the doorway. So does the General.

“Oh good, you’re awake, Ed. How are you feeling?”, Alphonse says, walking into the room. He stops, looking down at Ed’s hand. Roy realizes he’s still holding it and lets it go immediately. The younger Elric just raises an eyebrow. “Like I got stabbed, shot, punched and patched up again.”, the older Elric responds helpfully. Alphonse just rolls his eyes and checks Ed’s wounds again.

 ----- 

Due to his injuries, Edward has to stay in Ishval for a bit longer. Which Al thinks is fantastic, because now he can organize a party for his brother right here with their friends. Of course, Ed could just heal up in Resembool, but Alphonse saw the General with his brother and now is very intrigued. He decides to talk to Major Hawkeye first.

He sees her talking to Lt. Colonel Miles and makes a very interesting discovery. They are standing closer together than they usually would and they both seem a little bit awkward. Riza Hawkeye and Faris Miles are _never_ awkward. He stops walking and just observes them.

Jean Havoc comes up to him and says: “Noticed it too, haven’t you? Miles asked me if Hawkeye and the General are an item.” “Did he? Very interesting. It’s good I’ve run into you, it’s Ed’s birthday next week and I feel like we should throw him a party.”, Al tells Havoc, who responds: “Good idea. Should I go tell the team?”

“Yes, please do. Nothing big, mind you, just food around a campfire or something like that.”, Alphonse adds. “Will do.”, Jean says, walking away.

 -----

“Al, I’m all healed up, why can’t we leave yet?”, Edward asks his brother. “Because, brother, it’s your birthday today and I believe you should celebrate it with your friends. Also, it’s already getting dark. We can leave tomorrow, alright?”, Alphonse responds. “Fine.”, the older brother says, scowling. If it makes Alphonse happy, then he’ll do it.

They walk to the spot where they had that campfire the night they were attacked. He can see the light from the fire now, and it’s surrounded by Mustang’s team and the few Ishvalans he knows by name. There’s a large table with food and drinks next to the campfire. When the people around it see them they yell: “Happy birthday, Ed!”

Al makes him sit next to Roy and goes to sit next to Shula. Havoc is sitting to Ed’s other side and says: “Alright! Let’s get this party started! Ed on the table are sausages, pork, chicken. Meat, basically. Just put it on a stick and hold it into the fire, you know the drill. Here, drink this.”, Jean hands him a bottle of beer and everyone takes it as a cue to get up and fight over the food, including Ed.

 

“This food was delicious! Who made it?”, Ed asks, looking at the people around the fire. “I did.”, says a voice right next to him. “Really? I didn’t know you could cook, Roy.”, Ed says, punching the man in question lightly on the shoulder. “I’m full of surprises. Take it as a birthday present.”, Roy replies. Ed notices that the man may be a little bit drunk, judging by the honest smile he gets. Ed’s not sure if it’s the amount of food or the alcohol that has made him dizzy and giddy at the same time. Probably the food.

“Perfect cue, General, it’s time for presents!”, yells a tipsy Havoc. “You did _not_.”, Ed says. They did, apparently, because he suddenly gets coffee beans, a handmade sweater, a couple of throwing knives and a bunch of other things that are surprisingly useful.

Ed thanks everybody and puts on the sweater, it’s perfect.

He notices Breda talking to the Ishvalan healer, Shula, Roy mentioned in his letters. _Finally_ , he thinks. She really _is_ beautiful. Shula seems very interested in what Breda is saying, even though the guy is waving his arms a little bit too enthusiastically. Her qi is amused and Ed is impressed by her being able to look intrigued even though she’s more entertained by the enthusiasm than the topic at hand.

“Hey, look at Hawkeye and Miles.”, Jean Havoc says to him. Ed does and sees Miles laughing. He has never seen the Lt. Colonel laugh before. He has also never seen Hawkeye blush before, which is exactly what she is doing, barely visible in the darkness. Concentrating slightly, he feels the fondness both soldiers have in their qi and can’t help smiling at them. “Wow. I didn’t think either of those two was capable of human emotion.”, Ed tells Havoc who responds: “They’ve been avoiding and running into each other randomly at the same time for a while now. This is the first time I’ve actually seen them interact normally. Must be the booze.”

“This is so weird.”, Ed says, still watching Hawkeye and Miles. “Kinda, yeah.”, Jean adds.

There is silence, Jean is still staring at the two robot-people with fascination and Roy is just staring into the fire.

“I think I’m gonna go test these knives. If anyone asks, I’m over there.”, Ed tells Havoc, pointing to the makeshift house – though _house_ is a bit generous for a stone cube – Ed and Al had erected when Ed got out of the hospital. Without looking away from Hawkeye and Miles, Jean responds: “Will do.”

 -----

Roy can hear a _thump thump_ from where Ed is trying out his new knives. The General is still staring into the flames. They remind him of the war and the attack last time they were sitting here. The steady sound of knives hitting their target comforts him. It’s the sound he heard when Maes trained with his own knives while babbling about his girlfriend and then his fiancé and then his wife and then his wife _and_ his daughter.

Alphonse sits down suddenly next to him, making Roy nearly jump out of his skin. He must be more drunk than he thought, if someone managed to sneak up on him without meaning to.

“What’s the matter, General?”, the boy asks. He has always been very perceptive. Roy realizes Alphonse is a lot like Maes Hughes. Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s the memory of his best friend, but he drops the act and tells the young blonde: “Fire makes me think of the terrible things I’ve done here. And this spot makes me remember seeing Ed bleed out on the floor. The sound that the knives make when they hit their target make me thing of Maes. And the alcohol makes me irresponsible and honest and somehow I can’t bring myself to care about my behavior.”

Alphonse looks a little bit taken aback by Roy’s honesty. The boy collects himself and says: “You know, you’ve done a lot of good with fire as well. You saved my brother from the mannequins with fire, you got rid of the homunculus Lust with fire, you have saved so many lives. The attack was unfortunate, but Ed’s okay, we’re all okay, so you don’t have to dwell on that. I also think it’s good that you think of Brigadier General Hughes every now and then. That way he’s not gone and forgotten to his loved ones.”

“You know, Alphonse, you sound just like him when you talk. He also always tried to make me feel better with rational arguments. And I know Ed’s okay now. But seeing someone you love bleed out is-”, Roy clamps his mouth shut, noticing a second to late what he just said. Alphonse caught on the word and grins that same grin Hughes always wore. The one that meant ‘ _Gotcha_ ’.

“He’s my _friend_. That’s all I meant.”, Roy adds, hearing Maes’ voice in his head saying _“Liar”_.

“Sure you did, General. The food really was great, by the way. Wonderful present for Ed.”, Al responds, clearly not believing him, and gets up.

“You think so? Everybody got him such wonderful gifts and I just made some food. For everyone. Does that even count as a present? If it’s for everybody?”, Roy asks Alphonse, who just chuckles and says: “I’m sure Ed thinks it’s a wonderful present. But if you feel like it’s not, give him another.”, winking and walking away.

 -----

Ed loves the sound of throwing knives hitting a target. It’s like a heartbeat. He can feel Roy’s _qi_ coming toward him as he retrieves his knives. He walks towards Roy, knives in hand, and grins. Roy looks worried all of a sudden. “No need to look so scared, Roy, I won’t throw these at you.”, Ed tells the man. Then he turns around and throws two of the knives at the same time, one in each hand, and they stick perfectly.

“You’re really good with those. I never knew you had that particular skill.”, Roy says retrieving the knives for him. “I picked it up in Xing. Took a couple of throws to adjust from Kunai to regular throwing knives, but it’s essentially the same.”, Ed responds, taking the knives from Roy’s hand. “Could you teach me? Maes left me his knives and I have no idea how to use them.”, the older man says, his qi showing his honesty under the nervousness.

“I can try. You’ll have to practice on your own, this isn’t something you can perfect overnight.”, Ed tells Roy, who responds: “I’m sure it took you less than an hour to get to this level.”

Edward rolls his eyes and says: “Two hours. Now, there’s multiple ways to throw a knife.”

Half an hour later, Roy managed to get most of his knives to stick, but his aim was surprisingly bad. “No, no, no, Roy you’re not aiming properly.”, Ed says. He goes to stand behind Roy and guides his hand with his own. He can feel Roy’s qi sparking in surprise and pleasure, which baffled the blonde slightly, but he chooses to ignore it, instead adding: “See? You’ve got to line up your shot properly.” “I think the alcohol is impairing my aim.”, Roy says defensively after the knife misses its target again. Ed took a step back to let Roy throw. Now he puts his hands on his hips and says: “No, Roy, the alcohol is impairing your ability to concentrate.” “You’re impairing my ability to concentrate.”, Roy mumbles. Ed’s not sure he heard him right and asks: “What?”, feeling the General’s embarrassed qi.

“Nothing. Can you just show me again?”, Roy responds. This time Ed can feel mischief and nervousness rolling off the man and the blonde is slightly scared of what that mischievous feeling will give birth to.

“Fine.”, Ed says, stepping towards Roy to take his arm again, when Roy turns around suddenly so they’re face to face. “You know, if you want me to show you how to throw, you’re going to have to turn around.”, Ed tells the older man holding the last knife up between them. They are _very_ close. Edward was almost flush against the man’s back before he turned around.

He still doesn’t know why he didn’t take a step back. Roy pushes the knife away and says: “You know, when I saw you bleeding out on the floor I thought I was losing you.” His expression is entirely open, not a trace of the usual mask. “I felt like the floor had dropped away from under my feet. I don’t even remember tackling the guy who shot you or anything. Just the feeling of my fists connecting with his face.”, Roy adds.

He’s even closer now. He’s tracing the thin scar on Ed’s cheek with his thumb. Ed leans into the touch, slightly, laughing and saying: “You broke his wrist and called him a cunt.” “Did I?”, Roy asks, his hand now tracing a scar on his jaw. It feels awesome. The General’s other hand is encircling Ed’s lower back, which, instead of making him feel trapped makes him feel at ease.

“You will never learn how to throw a knife at this rate, you know that, right?”, Ed tells the General, who looks him in the eye and says: “I don’t care.”, before pulling Ed towards him so their lips meet.

 -----

Ed drops the knife in his hand. Roy realizes he probably should have asked first, but alcohol made him reckless. Ed kind of just stands there for a second before he wraps his arms around Roy’s neck, one hand in his hair. The General did not expect that and freezes for a second. He feels Ed tug on his hair and isn’t sure what that’s supposed to mean so he pulls back slightly to apologize, when Edward practically growls and pulls Roy towards him with considerable force, making them both lose their balance.

Roy catches himself with his hands so he doesn’t fall onto Ed, who is on the desert floor, looking up at the General. Ed doesn’t seem to care that his hair is full of sand, but he’s staring up at Roy in horror, saying: “Oh God, uhm, sorry, I-” and sliding out from under Roy with surprising ease and stumbling back to the camp fire, leaving Roy in equal measures confused, happy and full of dread.

 -----

When Roy wakes up the next day he has a killer hangover and for a second doesn’t know why he’s feeling so miserable additionally to the hangover. Then he remembers. _Oh no_ , he thinks, sitting up too quickly and nearly throwing up. He stumbles out of the tent and sees that Ed and Al’s little house is still there. He hurries over to talk to Ed, but the door is wide open and the brothers are gone.

“They left at dawn, General.”, Riza says from behind him. “Told me to say goodbye to everyone for them.”, she adds. “Riza, I messed up.”, Roy tells his childhood friend, before starting to retell what happened the previous night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be updating this at least once a week, for now at least. Catching up to my writing soon, so might be a bit longer after that (sorry!)
> 
> New names:
> 
> Shula - "Flame" (Arabic)
> 
> PS: Because that woman is fierce imo.


	11. The Path to Aerugo pt. 3: Resembool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward and Alphonse left Ishval in a hurry (well, Ed left it in a hurry. Al just went along innocently) and go to Resembool to visit Pinako (and, surprisingly, Hohenheim). A letter arrives for Ed. Hohenheim notices Edward extremely obvious reaction and decides he might have to meddle, even though his friend tells him not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dearies! I apologize for not uploading yesterday (Busy busy), however you got a longer chapter sometime during the week and now I upload this slightly longer than usual chapter in hopes of forgiveness!
> 
> Beta'd by the ever wonderful KateTheGoddess (btw. congrats on getting into the masters program! Now I can bug you all year long <3)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It’s a long walk from Ishval to Resembool. At least it feels long to Ed. Al is babbling about healing techniques he learned from Shula, but suddenly stops, saying: “Okay, Ed, you haven’t said a word all day, what’s going on?”

The younger brother is holding the cats Roy gave him lovingly. It was a wonderful present, much more thoughtful than Ed would have thought the General could be. Seeing those gifts makes Ed recall the one he got. Not the food, the other one.

The elder Elric steels himself and says: “Roy gave me a second present.” He hopes his brother will just accept that as it is, but of course he doesn’t. Al looks at him suspiciously and says: “Really? Can I see it?”

“No, it wasn’t something I can take with me.”, Ed says, looking away from his brother, knowing his expression would give him away. “Was it just that big or was it something immaterial?”, Alphonse responds, still sounding suspicious. Edward doesn’t answer.

“Okay fine, I’ll guess, then. Did he finally man up and kiss you?”, Alphonse asks, making the older brother flinch. He was hoping his brother wouldn’t jump to that conclusion right away. He should have just said he was hungry when his brother asked what’s wrong.  His _qi_ was probably giving him away, but a man can dream.

Al interprets the silence correctly and says: “I’m right, aren’t I? And you left without saying goodbye?” Ed looks at his feet. He feels bad about that, but he didn’t know how to deal with the whole situation so he decided not to deal with it at all. He looks at his brother, to see if Alphonse looks as disappointed as he sounds.

As soon as he looks up, Al slaps him.

“Hey, what was that for?”, Ed shouts, holding a hand to his burning cheek. “Ed, you _idiot_. You’re lucky we’re almost home, or I’d make you go back.”

His brother is right, they just passed the Resembool station, which means they’ll be at Granny Pinako’s in 15 minutes.

 

When they arrive at Granny’s – after 15 minutes of loaded silence – they’re in for another surprise. “Dad!”, Alphonse shouts, making Ed look up at the house. Hohenheim is indeed there, looking up from a book he had been reading. He didn’t recognize his father’s _qi_ , but then again, he burned up his philosopher’s stone and is now left with only his one life.

“Alphonse! Edward! I didn’t know you’d be coming home already, I thought you were planning on travelling the world?”, the old man says, obviously delighted, before marking his page, putting the book down and standing up to greet them.

“We wanted to come say hi to Granny on our way to Aerugo.”, Al says to their father once they reach him. “Yeah, but we’re leaving again tomorrow to go see Winry and Paninya in Rush Valley, so don’t get too used to our company.”, Ed snaps. He’s still angry at his father. Not as angry as he used to be, but Hohenheim disregarded their wishes and used his life as a toll for Al, so still pretty angry.

Alphonse must be a little bit mad himself because the expected ‘ _brother_ ’ doesn’t come. Instead Al just says: “Yeah.”

Hohenheim must have picked up on it too because he looks down at his feet and says: “You’re both still angry at me, aren’t you?”, phrasing it more like a statement than a question. Neither of the brothers answers and Ed raises his right eyebrow. Just then the front door opens and Granny Pinako emerges, saying: “What’s all the commotion?”, and looking around, finally seeing the Elric brothers standing there. Her face breaks out in a grin and she puts her hands on her hips before continuing: “Edward, Alphonse, I told you to call before dropping by. Now I don’t have enough food here for all of us.” She huffs and then, looking at Hohenheim, says: “Let’s go down to the market”. Then she looks at her adoptive grandchildren, who both had started to argue that they should go, since they hadn’t called ahead, and retorts: “No you two stay here. You’ve had a long journey. We’ll be back before you know it.”

\-----

An hour later Hohenheim and Pinako find Ed and Al sparring in front of the house. This seems strange to the man, but looking at Pinako he can see it must be normal because she doesn’t even blink when she says to Ed: “At it again, I see. Don’t break Winry’s leg, she’ll kill you.”

Edward looks at Pinako and Alphonse lands a punch to his brother’s stomach. Wheezing, the elder brother retorts: “It’s _my_ leg, Granny. Al, that was a cheap shot.”

“I’m sorry, brother, but you really shouldn’t let your guard down so easily!”, the younger Elric responds.

“Are they always like this?”, the father of the boys asks his friend, who responds: “Yes. They spar as soon as they have a few seconds of free time. It drives everybody insane.” To the boys Pinako says: “I’m making stew, Al why don’t you come help out? Ed, the postman gave me a letter for you. It says it’s from that Colonel of yours.”

Both boys freeze. Alphonse recovers faster and says: “He’s a General now, actually.”

Edward is still just staring at Pinako. Al shakes his head and goes to retrieve the letter from Pinako, which seems to rouse Ed, because he sprints over and snatches it out of her hands.

He reads it, stares at it for a second, drops it and stares at it on the ground for a second. Something fell out of the envelope. Looking closer, Hohenheim notices a transmutation circle, carefully drawn on an additional piece of paper, he’s definitely never seen before. Knowledge from the Homunculus tells him what it’s for: making black coffee out of coffee-beans and water of any temperature. It’s not a very complicated array, it mostly just disintegrates the beans and heats up the water, though to most alchemists, temperature manipulation – and therefore molecular Alchemy – is quite impossible. This is the Flame Alchemist, though, and molecular manipulation is his specialty.

Then he realizes that not only is the General an expert in base-atomic transmutations, but he had seen the Truth, as had Ed and Al. Mustang must have made it himself and he’s sure his sons recognize it. It’s an odd thing to put in a letter to one’s former subordinate, but perhaps it’s a late birthday present, though Hohenheim thought his sons had been with the General in Ishval on Ed’s birthday.

“God, Ed, you _idiot._ ”, the younger brother says after picking up Ed’s letter and reading it. The older brother is still staring at the transmutation circle as if it’s the biggest mystery of the universe. He must know what it’s for, but perhaps he doesn’t know why it’s there either.

Hohenheim clears his throat and says: “That’s a very nice birthday present, Ed.” Alphonse looks at his father and replies: “Yes, it is. Brother loves coffee.” Then he looks at the brother in question – who is still staring at the floor even though Alphonse had already picked it up – and says: “Come on Ed, let’s go inside and help Granny make some stew. Remember, Ed? It’s your favorite.”

Edward is still unresponsive, so Alphonse sighs and tugs his brother into the house.

\-----

Alphonse is looking at his brother, who is just kind of staring at his stew as if it might spell out the answers for him if he just looks at it hard enough. He remembers the letter quite clearly:

 

**Letter 10**

_Dear Ed,_

_You left so suddenly I couldn’t explain myself. I’m really sorry Ed, I don’t know what came over me. I hope you can forgive my lapse in judgment, I realize my actions weren’t appropriate._

_I can’t say that I actually regret any of it, but if I wouldn’t have been so inebriated I would not have done it. I feel like I took advantage of your drunken state, even if I didn’t mean to, and I really am sorry for that._

_I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and that you both got home alright._

_Yours,_

_Roy_

_P.S.: I have enclosed your belated birthday present, as I feel like the last ones were not appropriate for one’s 20 th birthday. _

 

Alphonse has to admit he’s slightly worried. The way things are going, Ed won’t reply to the General within the next _decade_. “Come on, brother, why don’t I do the washing up and you reply to the General?” he tells his brother, who just shrugs, gets up and leaves the room. Ed’s _qi_ is just a bundle of confusion as it retreats to their room.

 

They sit in silence, Hohenheim, Pinako and himself. After 10 awkward minutes of silence, Pinako says: “So, Al, how was Ishval?” Alphonse collects himself and recounts: “Well, we arrived on my birthday and the General gave me a wonderful present, look!”, he shows them the wooden cats and continues: “We were all sitting by a large bonfire, celebrating, and some insurgents attacked the camp. We didn’t know, then, but apparently they were relatives and friends of people who had died in the Ishvalan war. Amestrians. We ran to help fight them off, and we managed to catch them all. No one died, thank god, and there were only minor injuries to both sides.

“Well, except for two people. Ed got shot.” – there are gasps from both adults – “He’s fine now, obviously, but he lost a lot of blood. The other person who was more severely injured was the guy who shot Ed. The General saw Ed collapsing and nearly beat the guy to death.”

Pinako seems to understand the implication there, but Hohenheim just looks shocked.

Al continues: “The General interrogated some prisoners, apparently they had agreed on a no gun policy, but that man ignored it. That’s when we found out who they were. Ed was fine after a while, obviously, but he had to rest up a bit, that’s why we’re here so late, we were going to spend his birthday either here or with Winry in Rush Valley. We decided to celebrate there, since most of his friends were there. It was wonderful, the General made the food, it was delicious. Mostly meat, but that’s how Ed likes it. That was Roy’s present.

“Another team member gave him throwing knives, and he started practicing immediately, of course, and the General went to check on him after a while. I have no idea what happened then, but Ed came back looking a bit shocked and told me we should leave at dawn to make it here in time for dinner.”

Pinako is smirking slightly, but Hohenheim looks clueless. Alphonse doesn’t mind, he wanted Granny to talk some sense into his brother, not Hohenheim. The old woman chuckles and says: “I see. Well, I think your father and I will wash the dishes and you can go check on your brother.”

\-----

“What was that all about?”, Hohenheim asks his old friend. The woman in question raises an eyebrow and says: “Ed definitely comes after you, Hohenheim. You are so clueless. Can’t you see? The General has the hots for your firstborn. Pun intended, by the way.”

He just stares at her. His son and the General?

“I didn’t think Ed liked men. I was also under the impression that General Mustang was straight. And isn’t he a little bit old for Ed? I mean, he’s a decade older than him, isn’t he?”, he replies, getting a bit angry. He was hoping the man didn’t force himself on his eldest son.

“I have no idea. The heart wants what the heart wants, after all. Though, yes, the General is a bit old for Ed. Though I guess it’s to be expected.”, Pinako replies.

Hohenheim doesn’t understand what she’s implying and tells her as much. She seems to think about her answer for a while before saying: “Well, seeing as you left them so early, it makes sense Ed would look for a father figure somehow. The man was his commanding officer and looked out for him and his brother throughout their entire teenage existence.”

Van Hohenheim thinks this over. He definitely doesn’t like sound of this. He thinks he might have to have words with this General Mustang.

 

Once the dishes are washed and dried, Hohenheim decides to check on his sons, but halts in front of their bedroom and hears the argument within. The boys are whisper-shouting in Xingan. Having been in Xing for a very long time, he understands every word:

**“Ed, you have to reply to the General, he thinks he’s done something awful!”**

**“That’s stupid.”**

**“It’s the truth. You and I both know that whatever transpired between you two was very much mutual and he’s beating himself up over the fact that he thinks he took advantage of you.”**

**“But that’s idiotic. I’m pretty sure he drank more than I did and he was completely out of it because throwing knives remind him of Hughes. He was in no state to take advantage of anyone. Besides, Al, it was just a kiss. It’s not a big deal.”**

_Well, at least it was just a kiss_ , Hohenheim thinks to himself, feeling a little bit bad for eavesdropping, but he didn’t mean to, so he keeps listening. It’s too late to back out now.

 

**“It obviously was, since you up and left without saying goodbye. And now you’re avoiding the poor man.”**

**“I’m not avoiding him!”**

**“Then why won’t you reply?”**

**“Because, well because…”**

**“You’re _scared_! I have no idea of what, but you’re obviously scared of something.”**

**“No, I’m not, I’m just being pragmatic.”**

**“How so?”**

**“Well, what if he expects something to come out of this? We’re travelling a lot, he’ll never get to see me and I don’t want him waiting for me when he could be dating half of Central. Besides, we were both drunk, I’m sure it meant nothing.”**

**“I see! You’re scared he’ll cheat on you.”**

**“No I’m not. I don’t want him to wait for someone who won’t be there. I am not my father.”**

_That hurt_ , the father in question thinks.

 

**“That’s idiotic, Ed.”**

**“Whatever. I’m gonna go shower.”**

**“It was your first kiss, wasn’t it, Ed?”**

 

The footsteps falter.

 

**“So?”**

**“That means something, Ed.”**

**“I don’t want to talk about this.”**

The uneven footsteps of his older son make their way to the door. Hohenheim moves away swiftly. He’s not sure he wants his sons to know he heard that conversation.

\----- 

Edward and Alphonse’s shared bedroom is small. There’s a desk with obvious transmutation marks on one of the legs from the time they had just learned Alchemy. This was before they met Izumi and hadn’t learned how to make the marks less visible. There are two small beds, elongated with Alchemy, although these look much better because that was a rather recent transmutation. They had come home after the Promised Day and suddenly needed two beds. Al had been thrilled.

There is one small window, slightly off-center on the far side of the room. It used to drive Ed nuts, but now he loves the small mistakes everywhere. They are what makes this room home, more than the dorms in Central, with their perfect symmetry and meticulous walls, had ever been.

The floor is faded wood, full of burn marks – also rather recent – from the time Ed and Al had tried to copy Roy’s Fire Alchemy just from the man’s circle and their knowledge from the gate.

They nearly set the entire house on fire. They would have tried it outside, but Alphonse was still confined to the bed at that point.

In hindsight it was a very stupid idea, but now the floor looks like a cheetah’s fur and Ed thinks it’s kind of cool that way. He’s pretty sure there was carpet here once, when they were children, but he can’t remember clearly what parts were this room and which were from the room in the house they burned down that day, so it’s possible he’s mixing those floors up.

Edward is sitting at the old desk in the old chair in the old room full of old memories and staring at a blank piece of old paper. Well, not exactly blank. It says: ‘ _Dear Roy,_ ’ at the top, but that’s about as far as he got in the last hour and a half.

Al was right, of course, as he always is. Roy _would_ beat himself up about something so stupid.

However, Ed has absolutely no idea how exactly to convey ‘ _I don’t want to miss you and I don’t want you to wait for me, when you could be dating some pretty Ishvalan girl with a uniform fetish instead_ ’ without sounding rude and accusatory.

He never used to care about those things, but Roy would probably think Ed’s angry or something, and that’s not true at all. The man is already beating himself up about something they did when they were drunk, he’d probably become an alcoholic, if he thinks Ed hates him for it.

He settles for just one line:

 

  _Roy, you are a colossal idiot for thinking that this is your fault._

 

That’ll have to do. Letters were never Ed’s strong suit, and neither was tact for that matter. But Roy knows that, maybe he’ll understand what Ed is trying to say.

 

He’s folding the letter and putting it into an envelope when there’s a knock on the door. Looking up, he sees his father standing in the doorframe. _Great, just what I needed_ , Ed thinks sarcastically. It occurs to him that thinking something sarcastically is useless when nobody can hear you. 

“Yes?”, Ed says slowly.

“It has been brought to my attention that I should maybe talk to you about that General of yours.”, Hohenheim says haltingly. Ed _really_ doesn’t want to talk to his father about Roy. In fact, he’d rather have automail surgery again. But, alas – as said General would say – he doesn’t have that particular choice.

“And what makes you think that?”, Edward responds suspiciously.

“Well, you see, it seems odd that a former commanding officer would send you a birthday present. More so, your reaction to said letter. What’s going on, Ed?”

The younger man reminds himself to never open a letter in front of his father.

“We’re friends, that’s all. Have been for years. Fighting a war together kind of does that to people.”, Edward tells Hohenheim, who responds:

“Yes, I am sorry you had to go through that. However, I still don’t see why you looked like you had just seen a ghost earlier.”

“Did I? I must have been hungry. No biggie. Everything is fine, Hohenheim, and besides, even if it weren’t, it’s none of your business.”, Ed didn’t mean it to come out so malicious, but years of hating a man leaves a mark.

“Edward. I know you’re angry at me for a lot of good reasons, but I am still your father and I am trying to be one now that I can. Please just give me a chance to make up for the lost time. This is the last life I have left; I’d like to use it properly for once.”

The young blonde mulls this over. Hohenheim was trying to make up for his mistakes, he understands that very well, but he didn’t want to talk about this with his brother either.

“Look, dad.” – he uses the word deliberately, getting the surprised and pleased jump in the man’s qi that he was aiming for – “I don’t want to talk about this. Not to you, not to Al, not to anyone. This isn’t personal, I just really rather wouldn’t talk about it. I’m fine, everything’s fine, you don’t need to worry. There was just a misunderstanding and I was a little bit shocked at how bad that misunderstanding was and I just finished my reply to clear it up.” He holds up the sealed envelope to prove it.

“Alright, Ed. But if you do need to talk to somebody who isn’t Alphonse, please remember that I’ll be here this time.”

“Thanks, dad. I’ll remember that.”, this time he didn’t mean to use the word. It didn’t feel _wrong_ , per se, but it felt _weird_. Hohenheim smiles.

“Do you want me to take the letter to the post office tomorrow? I know you’re heading out really early and it’s not exactly on the way.”

Edward considers this. On the one hand, it would definitively be more convenient not to make that detour. On the other, well, he doesn’t quite trust his old man. He sighs and says: “Sure. If you really want to.”

“Thank you, Edward, it means a lot.”, Hohenheim replies and looks so unbelievably happy, it’s painful to watch. However, Alphonse definitely got his smile from their father, because the excited, thrilled grin is exactly the same and Ed just can’t say no to that.

\-----

The next morning Hohenheim watches his sons head off towards the train station. He has a plan. All he has to do is wait until the boys have departed.

\-----

A few hours later, in the desert city called Ishval, General Roy Mustang is sitting at his desk, pretending to work. What he’s actually doing is waiting for a reply that he knows he won’t get. No matter how Ed feels about their ‘ _encounter_ ’, he won’t reply. He knows him.

But maybe the spiteful teenager has changed as an adult. Maybe Alphonse talked him into replying.

After not being able to concentrate for at least two hours he decides to take a walk. The damages of the attack had been repaired, the prisoners shipped off to some jail in Central, the actual mission of restoring continued. There was nothing left to do except paperwork now.

On his way to one of the building sites, Roy spots a familiar shade of blond in a long ponytail.

His heart jumps at the sight. Then it occurs to him that Edward wouldn’t be coming back here so soon, so he must be hallucinating. Nonetheless he walks toward the blonde.

The blonde head turns around and it’s not Edward. It looks like Ed, but 20 years older. It’s Van Hohenheim. The expression on the man’s face after spotting Roy is not a kind one. It’s a smile, but it’s one that promises a lot of pain, unless he says exactly the right thing.

Steeling himself and putting on his most innocent, polite smile he says: “Hello Mr. Hohenheim. A pleasure to see you again. Although, seeing as I was blind the last time we met, I guess _see_ isn’t quite the right word here.”

The blonde man laughs politely, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Extending his hand, Hohenheim says: “Yes, you’re right, General Mustang. I’ll get right to the point, shall I? I have a letter from my son for you. I meant to just bring it to the post-office, but I thought I should deliver it personally.”

Roy is surprised that he actually got a reply, but even more so that Ed let his father deliver it. He’s also wary as to why Hohenheim had come here. Did he find out what happened?

The blonde man is waiting for Roy to open the letter expectantly. He wanted to open it in private, but he believes Van Hohenheim would gut him if he didn’t open it now so he does. It’s just one line:

 

**Letter 11**

_Dear Roy, you are a colossal idiot for thinking that this is your fault._

 

_Well_ , he thinks, _that is surprisingly nice_. He’s relieved, Ed doesn’t hate him. He didn’t completely screw this up. He realizes he must be grinning like an idiot and tries to get his features back into a polite smile and hopes Hohenheim didn’t notice him grinning like a child presented with candy.

Looking up, he sees he did a very bad job because the man is looking at him with one raised eyebrow, so reminiscent of Edward it makes Roy grin. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just your expression. It’s the exact same one that I get from Edward when he sees right through me.”, Roy tells him when Hohenheim looks puzzled by his behavior.

This seems to surprise and please the older man, who replies: “Is that so? Does that happen often?”

“More often than I’d like to. Alphonse too. You have got quite exceptional sons.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. Say, General Mustang, what exactly is your relationship with my sons?”

_Uh-oh_ , Roy thinks. He chooses his words carefully before responding: “They have become dear friends to me in the past years. Alphonse’s kindness and Edward’s no-bullshit behavior have been a blessing. I am very fortunate to have met them.”

“ _Friends_. Alphonse was very happy about your birthday present, he showed those cats to me at dinner yesterday. He also arrived with them in his hands instead of in his backpack. I also heard you beat the man who shot my son nearly to death and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. Tell me, why did you do it?”

_Oh dear, I see where this is going_ , Mustang thinks.

“Well, he shot my friend who was then lying in a pool of blood, I have to say I lost my temper. Nobody harms my team and walks away from it unscathed. I killed Lust after she nearly killed Jean Havoc and tried to kill both your son, Alphonse, and Major Hawkeye.”

“How noble.”, Hohenheim says, sounding cynical.

“Not really, I’m just very protective of the people I care about.”

“I see. How was Edward’s birthday party, by the way? I hear he got some throwing knives.”

_There we go_ , Roy thinks nervously.

“Yes, Jean gave them to him. He is quite skilled. He tried to teach me, but I think I’m hopeless.”, Roy says with a chuckle.

“Is that when you kissed him?”, Hohenheim says innocently, sounding genuinely curious, though his eyes are cold. Roy swallows. Should he lie? Perhaps the man is simply bluffing.

“I- how did you come to that conclusion?”, Mustang says, thinking: _There. That was vague enough._

“My sons. They were arguing and I overheard that particular part. General Mustang, I hope you did not do something… _untoward_.”, the blonde man says, looking at him over his glasses.

“Of course not, sir.”, Roy replies, feeling like a child under that scrutinizing gaze.

“I’d advise it. I may not be immortal anymore, but I am still quite skilled.”, Hohenheim says, sounding not at all threatening, but looking absolutely menacing under the calm exterior.

The man adds: “Good day, General Mustang.”, before turning around and walking away, leaving Roy shell-shocked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No new names!  
> Will update at least once a week (Sundays, usually) and possibly more often.  
> We are catching up to the spot where I am currently writing, so there might be a bit of a break soon (sorry!).
> 
> Again, I ask you to give me your thoughts on Alphonse and Winry's pairings!
> 
> Love you all <3


	12. The Path to Aerugo pt. 4: Rush Valley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elric brothers make one last stop on their way to Aerugo, where - surprisingly - Al loses his temper and Ed is tactful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by the lovely KateTheGoddess.
> 
> I know this chapter is kinda short, but next chapter will be longer, I promise :)
> 
> We are nearly at the point I am in writing this, so there may be a bit of a longer break soon (sorry). I'll try to get one chapter out per week regardless, but I have a bachelor thesis to write, and my beta's semester starts now (I think), so no clue if we'll be able to get the chapters out in time. Worstcase, I might upload some chapters unbeta'd and change stuff later, but I'd rather avoid that, in case she finds plotholes and I need to actually change the story and then you have to reread everything or it doesn't make sense.
> 
> So yeah, I still need help with Al's and Winry's pairings. It's not super relevant right now, as I can just ignore it completely for the next few chapters, but yeah. Help.
> 
> Love you all, have fun!
> 
> PS: it also just occurred to me that I have the rest of Day Off to write and also some more stuff for that series, so.. ghaa so much to do! Please forgive me for all the delays!

When the Elric brothers arrive at Rush Valley Station, Winry and Paninya are waiting for them.

They jump onto the platform and are immediately pulled into rib-crushing hugs. 

“It’s so good to see you both!”, Winry positively squeals, before Paninya says: “Good lord, Ed, you’ve grown quite a bit haven’t you! And Al, it’s so good to see you outside of the armor.”

“It’s good to see you too, Win. And thanks Paninya, I think that’s the best compliment I have been given in years, which was very clever of you, given that you just took my wallet. Also, give it back.”, Ed says, holding out his hand. Paninya grins and drops Edward’s wallet into his palm. Al didn’t even notice her take it.

“It’s good to see you both as well. How are you?”, Alphonse asks the girls.

“We’re great! Come on you guys, let’s get back to the shop, Mr. Garfiel said he’s making soufflé!”, Winry says excitedly, grabbing a hand of each brother and positively dragging them towards the inner city.

  

Mr. Garfiel’s soufflé was the best Al has ever had the pleasure of tasting. He tells him as much, earning a blush and an Armstrong-like sparkle from the mechanic. Everybody’s bellies are full and there’s a drowsy atmosphere hanging in the air. Feeling rather pleasant, Alphonse looks at Winry.

The girl is looking at Edward’s content face fondly, and the younger Elric can’t stop the uneasy jealousy rising within him. He doesn’t blame Ed, how could he, when this isn’t his fault, but he still can’t shake the unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He can feel his childhood friend’s longing _qi_ now and it makes the whole thing so much worse than last time. 

He honestly thought dating May would somehow make him stop thinking about Winry and her preference for his older brother. Now of course he regrets hurting the Xingan girl, and feels rather ashamed of himself for using her as a rebound of sorts.

Ed must feel Winry’s _qi_ and Al’s jealousy as well because his mouth turns down at the corners and he opens his eyes. He looks at his brother with ‘ _sorry_ ’ written all over his face and his _qi_. Al huffs. It’s not Ed’s fault. Winry must have caught the frown because she looks over at Alphonse too and blushes, embarrassment clear in her very being.

Trying to be subtle and failing miserably, the younger Elric gets up and leaves the room, not being able to bear the feeling anymore. Then he feels Winry’s _qi_ following him and he stops right in front of the mechanic’s shop.

“Al?”, she says cautiously. “Go away, Winry.”, Al responds, noticing how much he sounded like his brother. “Come on, Al, what’s wrong?”, the girl persists. He knows he will regret this, but he whirls around and faces her. Taking a deep breath, he starts: “What’s wrong, Winry, is that I can feel you drooling all over my brother and I know you know how I feel about you, so I think it’s reasonable for me to be upset. I get that you want him and not me and I can respect that, but when I leave the room because I don’t want to feel and see it, please don’t follow me.", then - and he's not proud of it - he adds: "You can stop getting your hopes up, by the way, he’s seeing someone.”, hoping that comment stings a little bit. 

Tears start springing up in the girl's eyes and he feels bad immediately. 

“I’m sorry, Al.”, the girl says tearfully and Alphonse already regrets losing his temper. “It’s fine, Win, just please, go away and let me feel sorry for myself in peace.”, he says before walking away.

 -----

Winry stands there and stares after Alphonse for a good minute before she pulls herself together. Wiping at her face angrily, she slowly makes her way back to the kitchen to find herself with Mr. Garfiel and Paninya. “Where’s Ed?”, she asks. “I think he went upstairs. Something about needing space.”, the older mechanic replies.

Feeling dreadful she goes to look for Ed, finding him on the roof, staring in the direction his brother went. “What did you do, Win?”, he asks her without looking her way. “I asked him what’s wrong.”, she replies, settling herself next to him. After a few moments of silence, Edward says: “He never loses his temper toward you, it must have been a bit of a shock. You gotta understand, we both learned an ability that makes us able to know what you’re feeling if you’re not guarding yourself. And feeling your emotions breaks his heart all over again every time.”

She’s surprised that Ed picked up on her feelings, he’s usually so clueless. “He said you’re seeing someone, is that true?”, she asks the older Elric, who startles at the question and scowls characteristically before replying: “I’m not sure. We kissed, that’s all, and then I ran away like always. He _did_ nearly beat a guy to death for shooting me, though, so I guess that counts for something.”

“He?”, Winry asks. It had occurred to her that Ed might just not be interested in her in general, not that it was her gender that was the first hindrance.

“Yeah. Don’t look so surprised, not everybody is like Mr. _Gay_ fiel over there.”, the blonde man replies.

“I guess you’re right. Hey, we should get your leg checked out now.”, she says after a while and gets up. Edward huffs, but gets up as well, nimbly jumping to the street above instead of bothering with the stairs, giving everybody in the vicinity a heart attack.

 -----

Alphonse reappears at the shop at some point during the night, finding his brother on one of the beds in their shared guest room. He doesn’t know how late it is, but he must have been gone quite a while, judging by the brand new leg jutting out of Edward’s boxers.

The older brother is lying on his side, staring out of the window, his _qi_ only sorrow.

“Hey Al.”, Ed says without turning around. His voice makes Al realize the sorrow in his brother’s _qi_ is for him.

“Hey brother.”, he answers. “Al, I’m really sorry. I know I can’t actually do anything about it, but I’m still sorry this is happening to you.”, Edward tells him, turning around to face him.

“I know. Can we go to Aerugo tomorrow? I know we planned to stay a little bit longer, but I don’t think I-”, Alphonse starts, but his brother interrupts him: “Of course we can go tomorrow, Al. Wanna go on the first train?”

The younger Elric is so grateful and makes sure that his brother can feel it in his _qi_.

“Thank you, brother.”, he adds, just to make sure.


	13. Aerugo and Water Alchemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elric brothers have made it to Aerugo and have some luck for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by the lovely KateTheGoddess.
> 
> Yay, we got to Aerugo!
> 
> So... I have like one more chapter written, so there might be a bit of a wait after next week (sorry). I also have to hand in my first draft for my Thesis on November 7th, so I will not be writing all that much before that here (sorry again).
> 
> I hope you enjoy this (comparatively) long chapter, and will forgive me for uploading very little in the next two months.  
> There will be lots of updates around Christmas and until February, and after that slightly less, but I should manage to uphold my 'one thing per week'- minimum upload schedule :)
> 
> There are some new names in here. The meanings are in the end notes.
> 
> This starts off from a stranger's point of view (my beta thinks that's quite clear anyway, but just in case, don't get confused).  
> Every language that isn't Amestrian is bold. It should be clear which language it's supposed to be, but yeah.
> 
> Have fun <3

Two blond young men step off the train station. It’s the new station, the one that was built about two years ago after the ‘peace’- treaty the new Fuhrer of Amestris negotiated with President Ardito.

The language they speak must be Amestrian. One of them has long hair and his entire coloring is gold. His hair, his eyes, his skin. The other has short hair and while they must be related, this one’s hair is more straw colored, his eyes have a green tint and his skin is quite a lot paler. Neither of them look quite like Amestrians, with their light blond hair and blue eyes, yet they look distinctly out of place here.

Looking around himself, he sees all dark hair and eyes with skin ranging from pale to dark. Yes, they really do look out of place. They walk past him and now he’s sure the language is Amestrian. A surge of hatred crawls up his throat, making him nauseous. He knows he cannot blame boys for a war that left so many dead in their wake. These two look too young to have even fought in it, although the thinly veiled sorrow in their eyes shows that they have known loss and are very aware of the glares thrown in their direction.

Besides, his wife was Amestrian and fled from there. Fled from the Amestrian soldiers destroying her home. A lot of them were terrible, but some had suffered from their own countrymen’s hands.

The one with long hair huffs and stops just outside of the biggest crowd on the platform and says something to the other. The language they speak suddenly switches. He’s sure it must be something eastern - Xingan perhaps – but the coloring there does not fit them either.

The long-haired foreigner visibly squares his shoulders. Only now does he realize that while the short haired blonde is wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals, the other is wearing a coat, long trousers and boots.

This strikes him as strange until the long haired man takes off the warm garment. Underneath the man is also wearing a tank top and there are scars visible on his right shoulder. There are metal pieces imbedded in the skin. The young man crouches down to roll up his trousers and the shirt hitches up slightly, revealing part of a ragged scar. Then, once the man stands up, the metal leg is clearly visible.

He thought those boys looked too young to be in any kind of war, but one glance at the minimal amount of skin the man seems to be willing to reveal shows a scar-riddled body and a prosthetic leg. He feels a little bit bad now, judging them right off the bat. At least one of them must have seen quite a lot of horrible things. And judging by the way they both hold themselves, the other must have seen quite a bit of hell himself.

As if sensing him looking at them, which – he supposes – is likely, seeing as he has been staring at them for the past few minutes, they both look at him at the same time. The short haired man looks apologetic while the other just frowns and looks down at his leg. Then he claps his hands together, touches his trousers and watches the fabric fall off above the knee.

\-----

“ **Don’t look so upset, brother, people here have seen their fair share of war and metal limbs.** ”, Al tells him in Xingan. Switching seemed like a good idea after the angry glares they got as soon as they set foot in Aerugo. “ **I know, Al, but I just don’t like the way people are looking at me. Like they can’t decide if they hate or pity me. Like that guy by the exit. I can even feel it in their _qi_.** ”, Ed replies, also in Xingan. His brother just huffs and picks up his suitcase.

“ **It doesn’t matter if you have an automail leg or if we speak Xingan. The best we can hope for right now is getting weird stares because of the whole Xerxes coloring and all. It will feel just like home.** ”, Alphonse says after a while, the humor in his voice and his uncomfortable _qi_ sending mixed messages.

“ **I guess. Let’s just find a hotel and figure out how on earth we’re supposed to learn the Alchemy or the language here. Unlike in Xing we have nobody to teach us here.** ”, Edward replies.

 

After wandering about for a few minutes, somebody taps Ed on the shoulder. It’s the man from before, the man who was staring at them so intensely that they picked up his _qi_ in the see of hate and pity from before.

“Hello. My name is Calogero. I see you do, uhm **Alchemy**?”, the man says in heavily accented Amestrian, putting his hands together at the last word to mime on of the few words they understood in Aerugan.

“Ah, **yes, Alchemy. We speak very little Aerugan, sorry**.”, Al says to Calogero in probably the worst accent, but the man seems to understand them and looks delighted that they bothered to learn that phrase.

“My wife. She is Amestrian. Come.”, the man says, his _qi_ honest. Relatively sure they are not about to stumble into some sort of assassination attempt, they follow.

\-----

“ **Aisha** **! Honey, I’m home! And I brought guests!** ”, her husband’s voice rings out from the front door. Exasperated, she replies: “ **Again, Calo? You know I love you and your compassion, but you cannot constantly bring strays home without telling me first. I need to know if I must cook for more.** ”

Then she sees who her husband has brought with him. Two young men stand in the doorway behind Calo and the shock on their faces must match her own expression. She can’t exactly place the two blondes heritage-wise, but they look vaguely familiar.

“Hello, miss. We are very sorry to intrude, but your husband was so adamant we accompany him here, it seemed rude to decline.”, the short-haired one says in an eastern Amestrian accent.

“Hello. You are from the East.”, she says, not meaning to sound unkind, but the shock has not quite worn off yet. “As are you. You look familiar.”, the longer haired man replies.

“So do you.”, she says. And then it hits her. She definitely knows at least the one who last spoke. “You’re the Fullmetal Alchemist.”, she adds, not sure how to feel about it. She cannot help but hate the military and its dogs for what they did to her homeland. Yet Asif had written to her once the dust had cleared. She hadn’t known he was alive and still feels guilty about leaving him back then. Her little brother had told her about two doctors named Rockbell and the young man who had put flowers on their graves for him. The same one that befriended the Ishvalan who had killed so many of his colleagues. The one that had chatted with him in his new home, Liore, as if he was an equal. The Fullmetal Alchemist.

Said Alchemist looks very uncomfortable now and says, to the floor: “Yeah it’s just Ed, now. Quit the military as soon as that stupid war was over. I’d really rather you didn’t call me Fullmetal, if that’s alright. Oh, by the way, this is my little brother, Alphonse.”

The short haired man – Alphonse – does a short bow that reminds her of Xingans and says: “Pleasure to meet you, Aisha. And might I say you really do look rather familiar.”

“Oh, I apologize. You know my brother, Asif, I think. He wrote to me about how your brother has shown him kindness, even during the war.”, she replies, trying to find the shreds of her composure.

“Really? I didn’t know brother could be kind in a way others would notice. He is rather bad with words and tends to rub people the wrong way with his blunt honesty and disregard for manners.”, the young man says, glaring at his brother lovingly. She didn’t know it was possible to glare at somebody lovingly, but there was really no way to describe that expression any differently.

“Hey, I’ve gotten a little bit better!”, the older brother interjects, glaring back just as fondly.

“Alright, well, I’ll see if I can find you boys something to eat. My husband must feel a bit left out at this point.”, she says, smiling at said husband.

\----- 

Never before has Calo regretted not learning his wife’s mother tongue as much as he does right now. She always told him there was no need, as she had no desire to return to a country full of people that looked at her with distain or even hatred. When they met, she had been sure there was no family left to meet or introduce him to.

Now there were two young men who looked extremely uncomfortable in her presence for the first few minutes until Aisha herself had relaxed. He had already ruled out military for those two due to their age, but perhaps he was mistaken.

Listening to them speak, he hopes he has not just alerted the military to the whereabouts of his wife. Just as he is starting to panic ever so slightly, Aisha interrupts his thoughts: “ **Calo, dear, no need to look so frightened. They are no danger to me. Come, let’s talk over dinner.** ”

She smiles at him honestly, and he releases a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. Then she turns away to lead the way into the dining room. She must be telling the boys to sit because the obviously politer one argues with her good-naturedly before grudgingly taking a seat. He notices that the other man doesn’t sit down until the polite one does, though he doesn’t try to help quite so obviously. The way they behave towards each other combined with their odd appearance makes him think they might be brothers.

“ **Calo. Come help me in the kitchen and I will explain some things.** ”, his wife says to him. Without a word he follows her. He always helps her with the cooking, and when he doesn’t he cleans up afterwards. His friends think he’s strange, to help a woman with housework, but she works harder than most men do. She writes about the war and paints her homeland before it was destroyed. Very few people like to hire women here. They say that they are weak and emotional, but Calo must disagree, for his wife is strong because she is so full of love and sadness. She turned to documenting her culture instead, hoping one day people will want to know about these things.

“ **What is it, love?** ”, he asks her once they’re in the kitchen. “ **Those two boys, they’re from Amestris. The one with the long hair is the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Or, well, was. Yes, he was military. Can you believe it? He can’t be much older than 20.** ”, she replies, looking quite heartbroken for herself and their guests. “ **He must have been so young. I saw he has a prosthetic leg and a lot of metal sticking in his shoulder.** ”, he tells her, recounting how he saw them on the platform. She replies: “ **I’m not surprised. Apparently the other one, his brother, Alphonse, used to run around wearing a gigantic suit of armor. Nobody ever saw him without it.”** There is silence as Calo tries to digest this. _What horrors must those two have seen?_ , he thinks. After a few minutes, Aisha continues, almost as if she were talking to herself:

“ **They are from the East, like me. They cannot be from Ishval, or they would not be so wary around me, but the way they speak reminds me of home. There was a village, less than a day’s walk from my home. It was the closest train station we had, back then, because my people did not want things built with Alchemy on our sacred land and the government did not want to waste so much time to build train tracks by hand. I think it was called Resembool, perhaps they are from there.** ”

“ **Edward is an Alchemist. I saw him perform Alchemy without a transmutation circle.** ”, Calo mentions. This seems to surprise his wife because she looks at him sharply and says: “ **Really? Perhaps that’s what got him qualified as a State Alchemist.** ”

He doesn’t answer. Instead he just nods, picks up four plates and heads towards the dining room.

\-----

It was a lovely dinner. Aisha cooked a stew that tasted so much like their mother’s, Alphonse nearly started crying. The spices Trisha used back then were a mixture copied from the Ishvalans before the war. Granny had told them stories about how she had played with Ishvalan children when she was young.

After thanking Aisha profusely for the impromptu meal, they had asked if there were any inns close by, so they could come visit, and if she would be so kind as to teach them Aerugan or point them towards somebody who could. She offered to teach them as much as she could, but advised them to look for books to learn from, since she worked a lot and could only make time once a week.

Calogero promised to find them someone to teach them the branch of Alchemy they practiced here and told them to come by on Friday. They said thank you in Aerugan – one of the few things they could say at the moment – which seemed to delight him more than was strictly necessary.

 

“They’re really nice, those two. I really wasn’t prepared to be received in quite that way. Aisha’s stew tasted like mom’s, didn’t it, Al?”, Ed says once they’re settled in the room of the inn.

“Yeah, I almost started crying, it was so good. I’m glad we met them. Aisha’s so sweet and surprisingly okay with Alchemy and former State Alchemists. And Calogero, I can’t even describe that man. He seems like the most cheerful person in the entire universe. They seem good together. I always love seeing people who have suffered so much find happiness.”, Al replies while unpacking his suitcase.

“I honestly can’t wait until Friday. I wonder what they do. Work-wise I mean, since Aisha said she’d be so busy.”, Ed says in that way that makes Alphonse think that he’s probably talking to himself. He always likes responding to Ed when he does this because he usually flinches like he didn’t notice that he had said anything out loud. As expected, Al gets an undignified squeak out of his brother when he says: “I guess we’ll have to ask.”

\-----

It’s been two months now and Ed still doesn’t know what Aisha does, other than the unhelpful “Art.” He got the first time he asked. Perhaps they didn’t trust them enough to disclose all that much about themselves. About a month in, Calo told them he was a cab-driver, which was why he was at the train station the day they arrived. He told them in Aerugan and was surprised – and way too delighted, in Ed’s opinion – to find that they understood him perfectly.

Now, after two months of daily studying by themselves and weekly visits with Aisha, they are quite fluent. Their accent is probably terrible and they might not be able to have political discussions, but they can easily converse with most people. They mostly speak Aerugan with each other as well, not just for practice, but also to avoid getting dirty looks.

Calogero was true to his word and found them an Alchemist who spoke Amestrian quite well, owing to the fact that his brother had an Ishvalan wife as well. She came together with Aisha.

 

Edward excelled at Water Alchemy. Alphonse likes to make fun of him and tell him it’s just so he can get one over on Roy, which is only a little bit true. To be fair, Ed had made fun of Al plenty for similar reasons when he was dating May.

It took Al about two weeks to understand what the arrays even did, since they had a lot less triangles and a lot more swirls. Ed got it in one. Two months in, they both manage to not drench themselves by accident.

“I’m really glad we came here, Al. Water Alchemy is pretty fun. Though I think most of these arrays would be easier if you applied Alchehestry, since both work with the flow of something. Remember how they tried to help us with the long-range transmutations by telling us to imagine there’s a river from our hands to the circle? It should be the same. Drawing water from the ground is a bit of a pain without long-range Alchehestry. You need to know where it is in the first place, and then you might as well make a hole in the ground with Alchemy, which takes a lot less effort.”, Edward tells his brother, who replies: “Yes, I think you’re right. I think we’ve learned all we can from the Master here, we should try to figure out our own style.”

\-----

“ **Good evening, Aisha. Hello Calo. This is a bit off schedule, why did you ask us to come here today?** ”, says Alphonse in nearly flawless Aerugan. Aisha must admit she is extremely impressed by those boys’ ability to pick up a language so quickly. Then again, from what she had heard about them before she knew them, those two were quite the child geniuses.

“ **Alphonse, Edward, thank you for coming by on such short notice. I have an appointment next Friday, so I was hoping we could do the lesson today. You don’t really seem to need it though.** ”, she replies.

The lesson was only one of the reasons she asked them here, but now she finds herself nervous to disclose the other two. She looks at her husband, who is – as always – smiling brightly at her in encouragement. Not for the first time it occurs to her that she is a very lucky woman.

“ **Thanks, Aisha. Though I’m sure our accent needs some work. Reading only gets you so far, after all.** ”, the older brother says and Aisha now understands what Al had meant about his brother’s kindness. Edward is very kind, but he struggles to show it. Every week he got less sullen about the heat and smiled more. He was very blunt, but never purposely hurtful, though his brother did always reprimand him whenever he said something rude. She never really minded. She liked the unapologetic way he dealt with the war and the unflinching certainty that tiptoeing around a subject is a waste of time and energy.

“ **Indeed, but your accent is pretty good as is. I think you just need practice. Now, I didn’t just ask you here because I wanted to postpone. I have two more reasons. Firstly, the reason for the appointment on Friday. It seems I might be pregnant -** ”, she starts, but gets interrupted by a very unmanly squeal of delight from both boys, which she didn’t really expect.

“ **That is so wonderful! The forming of another human being inside one’s belly is just such a miracle of nature! I know your people don’t approve of Alchemy in general, so I can just say that in this, your God has won out over modern science and I can’t bring myself to be mad about it.** ”, Edward says in a rush. He’s so excited for her and it steels her resolve for her last reason. With a bit of a huff at being interrupted – that is solely for show and they know it – she continues: “ **What I was trying to say, is that it is possible and I want to be certain. That was the reason for the appointment. Now. You asked about my profession and I think it’s time I showed you.** ”

\-----

Standing in the attic of Aisha and Calo’s house, Alphonse is slowly turning in a circle, trying to take everything in at once. There are large paintings everywhere, the scenes depicted are of a city in the desert, full of sandstone houses. He recognizes some of the structures from Edward’s birthday, so it must be pre-war Ishval. It’s beautiful. They are somewhat chronological, the early ones of children playing in the sand and the last ones of a burning village from afar. There are those in between where the children grow older and soldiers start entering the paintings. They are just in the background in the beginning, but grow in numbers later, their faces suddenly threatening. He recognizes faces here and there, of both soldiers and Ishvalans he has met.

There is a picture of Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes sitting on the ground, helping a child with its sandcastle. Then there is one of Armstrong crying with a dying Ishvalan child in his arms. He thinks he can spot Hohenheim on a hill in the background of that one. The coloring seems to blend with the sand, so he can’t be sure. There is even one of who must be the Rockbells, though you can only see their backs. But the blond hair and lab coat bent over somebody with a heavily bandaged arm are unmistakable.

“ **My brother described this to me and asked me to paint it for him. The man there, I think he is the one who killed those doctors.** ”, Aisha interrupts his gawking.

“ **It’s very likely. His arm was badly hurt and those two are very recognizably the Rockbells. You are very talented, Aisha.** ”, Alphonse replies. And she is. The details in the paintings are astonishing.

“ **Thank you, Alphonse. I’m sorry this war caused so much loss for you as well.** ”

“ **Good things came out of it too. We were able to find the monsters who did this, knowing this was one of the many massacres around Amestris. Even the one with Aerugo was a part of this mess.** ”, Edward interjects. Al had nearly forgotten he was there. His brother is standing in front of the picture featuring Mustang and Hughes, but looking at Aisha.

“ **I suppose. You know, I have journals as well. I wanted to document the destruction of my homeland somehow, so it might be rebuilt properly. I am in the process of writing them in Amestrian, I already have them in Aerugan and old Ishvalan. I wanted to ask you to maybe do me the favor of translating them into Xingan.** ”, she says, looking at the floor.

“ **Of course, Aisha. If you give us the Aerugan one, we can translate it for you. If you want, once we’ve been to Creta and Drachma, we can find a way to get them translated there too.** ”, Alphonse tells her, and he means it. He would find a way to get this to Mustang and his team.

“ **Aisha? Do you think we could take pictures of your paintings? I think some people I know would appreciate them very much. The man in this painting, Roy Mustang, he’s leading the restoration of your homeland. And this man, here, Alex Armstrong, he got sent home during the battle because he couldn’t kill so many innocents. And the Rockbells have a daughter named Winry. I think she would like to see this one.** ”, Edward adds, following Al’s thought process perfectly, as usual.

“ **Yes, of course, thank you so much!** ”, Aisha replies, tears in her eyes. Ed looks slightly alarmed, his _qi_ showing his confusion. He probably thinks he said something wrong. But Alphonse knows those are tears of joy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name - "Meaning" (Origin)
> 
> Asif - "Forgiveness" (Arabic) --> this is from a previous chapter, but just in case you forgot: this is that kid from Xerxes where they wanted to attack Ed, who in Chapter 7 talks to Ed in Liore.  
> Ardito - "bold" (Medieval Italian)  
> Calogero - "beautiful elder" (Calogerus - late Latin)/"beautiful" (καλος (kalos)), "old man, elder" (γερων (geron)) (greek)  
> Aisha - "alive" (Arabic)


	14. The Path to Creta pt. 1: Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al send their friends some pictures and get some replies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii, so this may or may not be unbeta'd (it's unbeta'd), but I wanted to get this out on time and my beta was busy. I probably could have nagged her about reading it RIGHT NOW, but I'm in a hurry, so..   
> That means it might get changed slightly at some point, if she has anything to add. I'll make sure to tell you in the notes if there have been any changes!
> 
> This is feels, I apologize.
> 
> Love you all!

It’s evening in Ishval and Roy Mustang is once again trying to hit a target he drew onto the side of the wall of that house Ed showed him how to throw them in the first place with one of the knives Maes left him.

He’s supposed to be at his birthday party, but he doesn’t feel like celebrating. Getting older suddenly seems so much worse when you’re incomprehensibly hung up on a man ten years younger than you.

He nearly hits Riza with one of the knives when she approaches him from next to the house.

“For God’s sake, Major, you know how bad my aim is. Don’t walk up to me while I’m throwing! One day I _will_ hit you by accident.”, he tells her. She gives him her best unimpressed look, which is a lot less scary now that he sees her laughing more. He’s pretty sure that’s due to a very specific Ishvalan, but it’s not his place to judge.

“Noted, sir. Though I am able to block most throws, so even then the risk is minimal. You’ve got a letter.”, she replies, her voice giving away what her expression doesn’t: She’s laughing at him.

The last bit got his attention, though. He rarely gets letters. Hughes used to write, Ed used to write and everybody else who likes him is here with him anyway. The only person who sometimes sends him letters is the Madam, but he got her usual birthday card this morning. As usual it contained valuable information in that code they agreed upon when he first went to Ishval.

Hawkeye is holding it out to him, and he tries not to hope like always just to get his hopes crushed, but he can’t help it. Then he sees the clumsy, yet a lot neater, writing that can only be Ed’s. It’s not just a letter, it’s a parcel.

When he opens it, he sees a letter covering what seem to be a lot of photographs and underneath there is something else wrapped carefully in a red cloth. Most people would probably go for the wrapped present first, but Roy can’t help but think that the best present is Ed talking to him again. So, completely ignoring Riza, he opens the letter.

 

_Roy,_

_I know I haven’t written in a while (sorry), but Al and I have met the most amazing people here in Aerugo and I just had to tell you about them. There’s an Ishvalan woman here, I think you’d like her. She’s an artist._

_Today, she showed us her paintings and her journals. She painted Ishval before the war and the slow build up to it. She wrote of it in every language she knows._

_Seeing as you’re the guy trying to restore it to its former glory, I made photographs of all her paintings. Once we’ve translated her journals, we will bring you a copy._

_You might recognize some people in the paintings. If you look closely, I think you can even see Hohenheim in one of them._

_Her husband is a cab-driver and he spotted us at the train station when we arrived. He actually ran after us for a good mile to invite us to dinner with his Amestrian wife. It was a bit of a shock when said Amestrian wife was an Ishvalan, but it was short lived._

_I know her brother, Asif, actually. He got treated by Winry’s parents and lives in Liore now._

_She made stew that tasted just like our mother’s. Makes sense, I guess, since Resembool is so close to Ishval and the spices must have made it there somehow._

_Calogero (the husband) found us someone to teach us some Aerugan Alchemy and boy will you love it when you see it._

_I hope everyone is doing okay out there in Ishval. Give them Al and my love, will you?_

_And show Scar the picture of the doctors. I think he’ll appreciate it._

_Ed_

_PS: Happy birthday, General Bastard. (From both of us)_

 

It’s funny how Ed figured out that Roy loves art. He notices that the photographs under the letter are pictures of paintings and just as promised there is a picture of himself and Maes. He feels a pang in his chest as he recalls that day. It was at the very beginning, before the kill order had come in. Maes had always loved children and when he saw that kid playing all on its own he had made Roy come along to entertain it.

It was such a wonderful thing, watching that child laugh at their antics. But just a week later, they had been ordered to ‘exterminate’ every single one of them, including that adorable little girl. ‘ _Exterminate_ ’, like they weren’t human beings, but vermin. Maybe they thought it would make the soldiers feel less like the monsters they were becoming. Calling something an extermination _did_ sound better than _mass genocide_ , after all.

The next picture features Major Armstrong. He remembers this too. Remembers Alex crying over a child he might have killed and being sent home and called a coward. He remembers thinking that Armstrong was lucky and smart to get himself out of that mess.

The picture of two doctors standing over a heavily bandaged man confuses him at first. They’re obviously Amestrian doctors and the patient is clearly Ishvalan. Then it hits him: This must be the doctors Rockbell and probably the man that killed them.

The rest of the pictures are mostly scenery, a timeline of sorts, featuring the same few children slowly growing up. _This will help_ , he thinks, _help me rebuild the homes I destroyed_.

Underneath the pictures is a clumsily wrapped package, and Roy opens it carefully. Inside, he finds knives. These are obviously meant to be thrown – perfectly balanced with a dull double blade and a very sharp point. There are twelve in total, half of them have those double blades on both sides, with a wrapped middle, a bit like those Xingan swords he saw Ling use. He has no idea how to use those without injuring him, but maybe Ed will teach him at some point.

The other six look quite classical, a bit like the ones he was currently using. The handles of all of them are wrapped in maroon, the same color as the cloth, and there is a Flamel stitched into all of them. The half that has one blade have a black Flamel, the other half a golden one. This must have been Alphonse’s idea because Ed would not have thought to use those particular colors. Smiling to himself, he takes one of the less lethal knives and throws it, managing to hit his target dead center.

\-----

When the package arrives, Alex Louis Armstrong is very confused. The only people that write to him are his family, but those are either letters or massive crates with statues in them. Everybody else calls. The handwriting on the cover is somewhat familiar, so when he opens the letter at the top of the parcel he skips to the last line to see who it’s from.

Edward never writes or even calls, which saddens Alex greatly, so this is indeed quite the surprise. Smiling, he starts at the top.

_Hey Armstrong!_

_Al and I were in Aerugo and we met the most awesome couple. The husband, Calogero, he saw us at the train station and ran after us to invite us to his home because his wife is Amestrian._

_We got a bit of a shock when we got there, though. His wife, Aisha, is an Ishvalan. She’s really nice and she made us stew that tasted like home._

_Anyway, Aisha is an artist and she painted Ishval the way it looked before the war, the war itself and everything in between. She wrote journals too. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get a copy to you someday._

_I spotted some friends in those pictures, I think you will too._

_Hope you’re well,_

_Ed_

_PS: Al says hi_

 

He’s very glad that those boys are doing well. They deserve happiness. With a feeling of trepidation, he turns to the photographs. The first few are of Ishval as he has never seen it: Full of happy children playing in the sand. With every picture more soldiers appear, though they look quite unthreatening in the beginning. Then he sees General Mustang and Brig. General Hughes playing with an Ishvalan girl who looks to be about eight. They all look so content it nearly makes him cry, knowing how soon this peace will shatter.

And indeed the next picture is of himself, crying over a boy he indirectly killed. He remembers that day so clearly. He erected large walls and listened to the scream of people shot against them with tears running down his face. When he let those walls fall he often saw children among the dead, but that boy was probably the youngest. He couldn’t have been older than ten.

He was dismissed then, when he broke down. He sees his own tears drip down onto the picture of the dead boy and hastily looks at the next picture. Two Amestrian doctors treating an Ishvalan. They must be the Rockbells and that patient could be anyone, but somehow he can’t shake the feeling that this particular man is Scar.

After wiping his tears from the picture featuring himself with his uniform sleeve, he carefully stacks the photographs and puts them in his front pocket.

\----- 

Winry is about to go to bed when the letter arrives. She recognizes Ed’s handwriting and her stomach twists in guilt right after the first feeling of happiness for hearing from him.

Hoping he isn’t extremely angry at her, she opens it.

  

_Hey Win._

_Sorry for the silent treatment. If it’s any consolation, I haven’t spoken to anyone else either._

_Al and I are okay, we met some really cool people in Aerugo! There’s a guy named Calogero who saw us at the station and ran after us to invite us to dinner with his Amestrian wife who it turns out is an Ishvalan artist. Her name is Aisha._

_She wrote some journals about pre-war Ishval and the war. She also painted things. And there’s one painting I think you’ll like. I enclosed some pictures for you._

_Give our love to Paninya and everyone at Rush Valley, alright? And if you happen to go to Resembool any time soon, give our love and those pictures to Granny and Hohenheim, yeah?_

_Ed_

_PS: Al says hi. He’s not mad, but he says he won’t be writing for a while, I’m sorry._

  

So it wasn’t just her. She’s glad, at least her two best friends in this world aren’t angry at her. She’s very angry at herself, for falling for the wrong brother. She had a choice and she decided to pursue the one that didn’t want her. It’s not like she didn’t like Alphonse that way at all. When she was younger she had quite a crush on both of them, which confused the hell out of her back then. It’s just that somehow she thought Al would fall in love with that Xingan princess who seemed so enamored with him. That Al wouldn’t want her. So she moved on and started obsessing over Ed instead. And now she doesn’t know how to fix it.

Still thinking about ways to fix her inexistent love life, she looks at the pictures enclosed with the letter. She smiles at the pictures that show happiness and feels tears in the corners of her eyes when she sees Maes Hughes playing with a girl who has the same smile as Elicia. Mustang looks so much younger and happier here too. The tears start spilling when she sees the first picture that shows the war in earnest. _Poor Armstrong, that must have been awful_ , she thinks.

Then she sees her parents. This Aisha is really very talented. The paintings are so lifelike, they’re practically photographs. How she managed to get the exact shade of blond right is a mystery to her.

Crying properly now, Winry lays the photographs on her desk, save for one. The one featuring her parents she clutches to her chest even as she goes to bed and falls asleep.

\-----

Sending those letters had seemed like a great idea, but now that they had gotten six replies as quickly as was possible across the border, Ed’s hands are shaking with anticipation. Had he made Winry cry again? Hell, had he made _Armstrong_ cry? He also only remembers sending three letters. How had he gotten double that in return?

With Alphonse sitting at his side he starts with the one that is clearly Winry’s.

 

_Thank you_

 

“That’s all? Just thank you?”, Ed asks his brother, who just shrugs and holds up a letter that must be Armstrongs, going by the broken wax seal.

 

_Thank you_

 

This one also only says that one sentence. But this one is bumpy in places so he actually _did_ make that tank of a man cry.

There is a letter from Resembool, so Winry must have gone to see Granny. This one also only had ‘ _Thank you_ ’ written in shaky letters on it.

He’s keeping Roy’s for last, so he opens the other two that came with it first. One is from Scar.

 

_Thank you for this kindness. I would like to meet that woman and read those journals. Please enclose some form of reaching her by return post. Thank you again._

_Faraj_

“So that’s his name.”, Ed says to Al, who responds: “It might not have been his name when he was born. Remember how he said he had discarded his name? Maybe the other Ishvalans renamed him somehow.”

The older brother mulls this over. It’s entirely possible. He wonders what Faraj means.

The next letter seems to be from the entire team.

 

_Dear Ed and Al,_

_Thanks so much for sharing this with us. We think we’ll be able to rebuild Ishval properly, knowing what it was like before the war. These pictures will go a long way towards healing the wounds both sides have suffered, as will the journals once they are published._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Riza, Kain, Heymans, Vato, Havoc and Miles_

_PS: The General very much enjoyed that present. He’s been practicing like a maniac instead of doing his paperwork._

“I thought he’d like those knives. Nice touch with the wrapping, brother.”, Al says, grinning. “Yeah well, I needed a focus point for my Water Alchehestry, so I kind of had to hand-stitch it. Why those colors though?”, Ed asks his brother, who replies: “I think those colors will remind him the most of you. That coat you always wore combined with the black that you always had underneath it. And the gold is your hair. Really, even the silver of the knives fits with the automail.” “You’re trying to play matchmaker again, aren’t you, Al.”, Ed asks, though he makes sure to make it sound more like a statement than anything else.

“Perhaps.”, is all that conniving idiot says. Huffing, Ed opens the last letter.

 

_Dear Ed,_

_Firstly, good to hear from you again. I was a bit scared you were still mad at me. Did you know, your father payed me a visit. That return letter you sent? He came to deliver it personally. Now I know where you and Alphonse get your scary look from. It’s kind of funny, because he has that one raised eyebrow expression that you both get when I try to bullshit my way out of something._

_Secondly, thank you both so much everything in that package. The letter alone made my day. Though I’m a little bit scared now and will be doing extensive research on what Aerugan Alchemy is. Please tell me it has nothing to do with water, I don’t think my dignity will survive that._

_Those paintings are works of art. The attention to detail is astonishing. I think she should try selling copies of her paintings and journals everywhere (especially around Amestris), or give them to a museum. A great many people need to see them, I think. If you give me her address, I will be in touch. I know some proprietors of art galleries._

_Is that Hohenheim on the hill in the picture with Armstrong? You said he was somewhere, that seemed like the only place he could be._

_Also thank you both so much for the knives. I honestly have no idea how the ones with two ends are supposed to work, I think you’ll have to show me. They look Xingan in design and I can’t seem to find anybody who has any idea what they even are, let alone how to use them. Emperor Ling just laughed in my face when I called him. He’s quite rude for royalty. No wonder you got along so well._

_Alphonse: the colors are a nice touch. I’m assuming that was you, since Ed would never think of something so ‘insignificant’._

_I don’t know who did the stitching, but thank you either way, that must have taken an eternity._

_I think Hawkeye is getting annoyed with me. I haven’t done any paperwork since I got them and have been to see Shula multiple times already trying to figure out the knives I’m unfamiliar with. She advised me not to try any more practicing or I might cut something vital and to get an expert to show me how to use them. I think I’ll listen to her._

_Everybody was very touched by the paintings. I think they’ll send their own letter in response._

_Hoping to see you both soon,_

_Roy_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> List of Names: Name - "Meaning" (Origin)
> 
> Faraj - "remedy" or "improvement" (Arabic)


	15. The Path to Creta pt. 2: Getting There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elrics have left Aerugo and are now on their way to Creta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am well aware that this chapter is INCREDIBLY short.   
> It was the last thing I wrote and is unbeta'd (for now).  
> Missed my upload date, sorry! I'm really stressed with uni stuff right now.  
> My last deadline is on the 19th of December and after that I will upload much more frequently. However, until then I might not upload anything whatsoever. I hope you guys can forgive me.
> 
> Enjoy this last bit, for now :)

They said goodbye to Aisha and Calogero on the day their train would leave. Calo even offered to drive them to the station himself. Feeling like they had no choice but to accept, they bowed in unison and thanked him. They told Aisha that the man previously known as Scar asked to meet her and to see her journals and that Mustang would be in touch with various art gallery owners about displaying her pictures. She was so thankful she hugged them both very tightly and made them promise to write whenever they had some time. She also said she would like to visit Ishval once the child was born – the appointment had gone well, mother and baby seemed healthy.

The train ride to Creta isn’t long. The station they left from is a different one than the one they arrived at. This one is close to the shared border between Aerugo and Creta and has been there a great deal longer than the shiny new station built by Fuhrer Grumman.

Not even two hours after getting on the train they were in Creta, standing on the platform. The language here had the same feeling to it that Aerugan had, though the vocabulary seemed to be very different.

“ **Judging by the way everybody is looking at us, we should probably stick to Aerugan while we’re here. At least until we can find somebody to teach us Cretan.** ”, Al says while they walk into town. While Aerugo had been mostly pastels and browns – and very humid, Creta is all white, blue and green. Most houses are made of something that looks like chalk, but has to be something less brittle, with roofs of blue tile. There are plants everywhere, completely at odds with the dry air.

“ **I agree. Now, how on earth do we find someone to teach us the Alchemy of this place?** ”


	16. Creta and Plant Alchemy pt. 1: Finding Our Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Elric brothers try to find somebody to teach them Creta's Alchemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I managed to uphold my own deadline! YAY!
> 
> This is unbeta'd (for now), sorry if I messed up badly somewhere.
> 
> I had an hour of free time, so here we are. Usually I wouldn't split the chapter like this, but I had nowhere near enough time to write the entire chapter, so here's part of it.
> 
> I can make no guarantees that I'll be able to upload anything next Sunday, but I'll try.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: I WILL make my deadline next Sunday! The next chapter was written last night (I had extra time because I handed in my assignment early), so there will be content! YAY

Alphonse looks around himself as they walk through the streets of Creta. This place looks completely different from Aerugo, though it is just as hot. Ed looks like he’s about ready to die from the heat so Al suggests they duck into a place that looks a bit like the small restaurants in Aerugo. They called them cafés and they had the best coffee. Edward tries not to look relieved, but his _qi_ gives him away.

The café looks so different from the ones they’re used to, but it has the same kind of homely feel to it. The colors are the same as the rest of the country they’ve seen so far and everybody looks so friendly. Al smiles at the waitress as she guides them to a table and asks her in Aerugan what her suggestions are. She smiles and replies in very broken Aerugan that she’ll just surprise them.

Ed looks expectant as they are handed two tiny cups of coffee. It was the strangest thing when they first got coffee in Aerugo. It was also served in a tiny cup, but tasted like heaven. It was strong, black and so much cheaper than Amestris’ counterpart. This coffee looks thicker and there is a cube with a toothpick sticking out of it next to the coffee.

The waitress informs them that they should dip the cube into the coffee and then suck on it. That seems very strange to Alphonse, but he thanks her in Cretan – one of the very few words he knows in that language – and does as she says. It’s glorious. The cube must be made out of mostly sugar, but it tastes like roses, which is the strangest thing he’s ever tasted. The coffee is rich in flavor and now Al understands why it’s so thick; It would be impossible to taste the coffee on the cube otherwise.

Edward makes obscene sounds as he sucks on his cube, making the residents chuckle and say something that can only mean “tourists”. They drink the rest of their coffee, and are surprised by the amount of dredges at the bottom. Too thick and strong to ingest, the Elric brothers draw arrays on the sides of their cups with the toothpicks.

When the waitress arrives at their table to collect their cups, she gasps. “ **Alchemists.** ”, she says in Cretan, also one of the few words Alphonse bothered to learn before they came here.

He can feel Ed’s tense _qi_. There are two reactions they’re accustomed to: rage and fascination.

Every head in the café turns towards them at the word, but nobody says anything.

Then the girl smiles and shows them her hands. On them are arrays they have never seen before. Knowledge from the gait tells them it has something to do with plant growth, but the shapes are so different from all the other forms of Alchemy they’ve come across that Al can’t possibly understand what exactly it’s supposed to do.

Ed answers with a simple “ **Yes.** ” in Cretan. They have learned a total of six words in this language: Yes, no, thank you, please, Alchemy, and toilet.

“ **You know Cretan Alchemy?** ”, she asks them in Aerugan and they shake their heads. Ed replies: “ **Aerugan, Xingan, Amestrian.** ” The waitress looks unhappy at the last word, but accepts it. Those three are the only ones outside of Cretan Alchemy that exist, to their knowledge, so perhaps she assumes they are simply gathering knowledge. Which is exactly what they are doing. No need to tell her where they are from.

She nods at them before going to the space behind the counter, yelling: “ **Papa!** ”

She reemerges with a middle aged man who is covered in arrays. His arms look almost like Scar’s – or Faraj’s – only his shoulders bare of them. He comes up to them, smiles, and says in perfect Aerugan: “ **So you two are Alchemists.** ”

Al nods and the man continues: “ **Do you want to learn our Alchemy? Is that why you came to this country?** ”

Ed replies: “ **Among other things. We wanted to learn about the culture, the language, everything. We have seen most of the continent, only missing Drachma and Creta. Do you know who can teach us what we wish to learn?** ”

The man smiles and it is kind, but sad: “ **You hail from Amestris, don’t you, boys?** ”

Both Elrics stiffen, but Alphonse responds: “ **Yes. How did you know?** ”

The older man replies: “ **Where else would you have learned their Alchemy? Until now, nobody has been allowed to come to your country unless invited by someone in the military. And your prosthesis, it’s Automail, yes? We don’t have that here.** ”

When Al fidgets, the man smiles and adds: “ **Don’t fret, child. Amestrians might not be the most welcome here, but war hurt all of us. I can see it in your eyes. You lost much at a young age. Why is it you want to learn the customs of the world?** ”

Ed stares the man straight in the eyes and says: “ **We want to learn everything we can for the sake of learning. Knowledge is how we can help. We have seen many tragedies that could have been averted simply if we would have had the knowledge we have now. ‘Alchemist serve the people’ is a saying in Amestris, but our Alchemists have not obeyed that creed. We want to rectify that. Help all the people, not just our own. That is why I ask, no I _beg_ , do you know who can teach us?**”

The man stares at Ed for a long time before smiling and saying: “ **I can teach you.** ”


	17. Creta and Plant Alchemy pt. 2: The First Months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaah sorry, I forgot to upload yesterday, I was so tired I kinda just passed out pretty early.  
> Buuuuut slightly longer chapter this time! Yay!   
> Thank God for boring classes, we owe them most of my works xD  
> This was beta'd by the lovely KateTheGoddess!
> 
> Enjoy!

The man they met at the café is called Stylianos and his daughter’s name is Agape. It seems like luck is on their side for once. It had to kick in at some point, and it seems like they’re on a roll since Aerugo. It makes Ed nervous. He isn’t concerned about Stylianos or Agape. Their _qi_ is honest. But everything going so well is just not something he is accustomed to. Al tells him he’s worried about nothing, but his _qi_ is tense as well.

Ed considers writing to Roy again, but somehow he feels weirder now than when he first started. It used to be strange because that man was his commanding officer once and while they had mutual respect, he would not have called them friends. He might have had a bit of a crush on the man, mostly due to the fact that he was brilliant at Alchemy. Probably. Ed doesn’t really want to dissect his teenage feelings. That was the past and the past should stay right where it is. What’s done is done.

The problem _now_ is an entirely different one. They’re not just ex superior officer and subordinate anymore. At some point they became friends. And then Ishval happened. Those are things that are relevant now. And Ed is just not very good at feelings. He didn’t really know what he wanted then. He had thought his little crush had just gone away, but he knows deep down that it never did.

His birthday was wonderful. He had so much fun. But then Roy just came along and confused the hell out of him. The man kissed him like he was sure he would never get to do it again. And Ed had just run away like he always does.

Edward hadn’t known that it was exactly what he wanted until he got it and then he sabotaged himself because he was scared of what all of it would mean. He and Roy can’t have a future together. He knows that. Roy wants to be Fuhrer and he can’t be that when he’s with someone like Ed. Ed wants to be free and he can’t ask somebody to wait for him to get his restlessness under control. He can’t ask Roy to wait for him.

So he doesn’t write to him. He never will.

\----- 

“ **Call me Anos, please. Everybody does. Now, first things first, if you want to learn Cretan, I suggest taking a course at the public university. I am not qualified to teach you a language from scratch. Once you’re at a certain level, try speaking with my daughter for practice. You’re always welcome at the café, of course, and I’m sure she won’t mind the company.** ”, Anos tells them in Aerugan after he points them to an inn close by.

Alphonse thanks him in Cretan and says: “ **Where might we find the university?** ”

The older man takes a look at the map they brought with them and points at a building only a good ten minutes from the inn.

“ **Anything else you need for now? We can talk Alchemy tomorrow.** ”, Anos asks, getting a reply from Ed: “ **Yes, actually. We were wondering, while we’re in Creta, we’d like to work. In Aerugo we just ran around aimlessly all day fixing things and we’d like to avoid that.** ”

The older man chuckles before saying: “ **Understandable. Why don’t you boys help out at the café? It will be good practice in our language.** ”

Alphonse smiles brightly and says: “ **We’d love to! Just tell us when to be there and we’ll do it.** ”

Anos smiles at them and tells them to be there after they get up, whenever that is.

\-----

The university is large. Much bigger than the one in Central. It makes sense, since Amestris is so much bigger on war than academics, or used to be, at least.

It takes them about a week to realize that the course in beginner’s Cretan is too slow for them. Even the professor tells them to find a private tutor because they ended up asking their questions in Cretan after getting their hands on the recommended language book the first day.

The work at the café is a different story. Neither of them is used to work of this kind and the amount of broken – and immediately fixed – cups, plates and glasses is an inside joke to the regulars and staff by the end of the first week. Anos is patient with them and Agape tries to hide the way she’s laughing every time one of them drops something.

After that first week Anos points them towards one of the regulars who teaches Cretan to Xingan immigrants when he figures out that they are fluent in three languages, including Xingan. They progress much faster from then on out.

Anos teaches them how to balance things properly so they don’t waste the content of the broken cutlery. He also tells them that they can start learning Cretan Alchemy now. They didn’t understand why they had to wait so long until they started.

It wasn’t until Anos started teaching them that they realized their Alchemy didn’t make sense until they familiarized themselves with their language and culture. They use different shapes than the other types of Alchemy and their harmony doesn’t make sense without the knowledge of the people.

Al takes to the Cretan’s Plant Alchemy like a fish to water, which doesn’t surprise Ed much. Plant Alchemy is used for healing, though less efficiently than Alchehestry. The difference in the energy sources fascinates the younger Elric. Cretan Alchemy has more uses than healing, of course. Ed learns how to combine the Plant Alchemy with his Water Alchemy and quickly realizes he can use vines like water whips, but with much more power. They learn how you can waterproof things by studying plants and mimicking their ability in an array. This leads him to thoughts of Roy and he gets extremely distracted for the rest of the day.

 

Their Cretan lessons are going well, too. With their practice in learning language and the similarities between Aerugan and Cretan, they learn this language within a month. They still have to practice and their accent needs work, as does their wider vocabulary, but they have no problems conversing with Agape and the customers.

Those first four months are fantastic. Ed hasn’t laughed this much in years. They learn about so many things, including Anos and Agape’s family. Agape’s mother, Alexis, died in the war with Amestris, saving her entire team by covering a grenade with her body. The pain is still fresh in the girl, but they speak to her about their mother and it helps to share that pain.

Then it all goes to hell. A customer takes one look at Ed’s automail and draws a gun, yelling that the “ **yellow devils** ” are the reason his family is gone. Anos steps in front of Ed and tries to reason with the man, who then starts telling the older man that he is even worse, defending them. Ed can see it in the man’s eyes - he’s gone. With a maneuver learned in Xing, Ed switches his and Anos’ places. He has his back to the man with the gun and it’s not a position he wants to be in. Slowly, as not to startle the man even further, he turns around.

Then, a shot rings out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Okay, I'm not really all that sorry, Angst is my speciality. Maybe a bit sorry. Forgive me xD  
> Will update next Sunday!
> 
> Name - "Meaning" (Origin)
> 
> Stylianos - "Pillar" (Greek, Late Greek)  
> Agape - "Love" (Greek, Ancient Greek)  
> Alexis - "helper"/"defender" (Greek, Ancient Greek)


	18. Creta and Plant Alchemy pt. 3: Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They can no longer stay. Not when the truth of all their mistakes is out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAH I forgot to upload on Sunday! So sorry! My bachelor thesis was due Monday night and I just completely forgot. I'm so so so sorry! And after last chapter's cliffhanger, too.. I feel really bad guys :(
> 
> But here you have the new chapter!  
> Beta'd by KateTheGoddess.
> 
> Enjoy!

There is always silence after a gunshot. Even in a gun fight it feels like the silence between shots stretches out endlessly. Especially if you know who the target is and you’re invested in the outcome. Ed’s ears ring and he can smell the burned gunpowder. Then the pain starts. He doesn’t need to look down at himself. He doesn’t have to. The bullet hit his stomach and Ed hopes it didn’t go through to hit Anos. It doesn’t feel fatal, even though it should have been from that distance.

What he doesn’t understand is why the man who shot him is staring at his own chest while blood starts to seep through his shirt. The man looks at something behind Ed before collapsing to the ground.

Ed barely hears Al’s shout of ‘Ed!’. He has turned around and sees Agape standing close to her father, gun in hand, eyes cold and focused in a way he hasn’t seen from her and reminds him of Hawkeye. He feels his brother’s Alchehestry on him and the pain lessens, but he can’t take his eyes off the girl. She lowers her gun and looks back at him, eyes falling on his healing wound.

Al moves away from Ed and tries to save the man who shot him, but Ed knows it’s too late. That shot went through his Aorta, judging by the amount of blood already pooling around him.

“ **You’re a soldier.** ”, Ed says to Agape, no judgement in his tone. Her shot was true. It was the shot of somebody who hasn’t shot a gun in years, but was trained for it.

“ **So are you, Fullmetal Alchemist.** ”, she answers, finally relaxing at his tone and apparent ease with the wound.

“ **How long have you known?** ”, Al injects from his spot kneeling beside the dead man. He doesn’t even look up at them, he doesn’t have to. Their _qi_ gives away what their faces would not.

“ **For a while.** ”, Anos replies. “ **The way you hold yourself, Edward, it is military. Your coloring and automail is distinct. It was not hard.** ”, Agape adds.

“ **I am ex-military. I am no longer the Fullmetal Alchemist.** ”, Ed tells them, watching the bullet from his stomach drop to the floor as the wound fully heals. Well, not fully. There will always be another scar to add to his collection. Alchehestry is not magic.

“ **I am no longer in the military as well. The war is over and our fight is done. The arrays on my hands, tell me, do you know what they do?** ”, the girl asks and after looking at them with the knowledge he has gained, he recognizes them. He replies: “ **A plant whip and a plant armor.** ”

“ **Correct. It saved me many times. Now, tell me, how do you boys transmute without an array and how do you do so long range?** ”, Agape asks them, the air around them much more relaxed, now that they are talking about Alchemy and not their military pasts.

“ **It is something you learn when you see the truth. Don’t ask further, there is nothing we can tell you. As for the long range – that is Xingan Alchehestry. It uses a different energy source than any other Alchemy. It focuses mostly on healing, but can be adapted. It’s a difficult art. If you want to learn, you will have to go to Xing. Just like your Alchemy requires the knowledge of the culture, so does Alchehestry.** ”, Alphonse replies, frowning at the lost cause at his feet.

Following Al’s line of sight, Anos says: “ **This is going to be such a nightmare. We all know it was self-defense, but now we have to contact the authorities. I suggest you leave for now. They like to pin things on people who look like they don’t belong.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will have a bit more time now! Not super much until the 19th, but definitely a lot more without my thesis hanging over me like a dark cloud xD
> 
> See you next week! Or earlier, if I write something in the meantime.


	19. The Path to Drachma pt. 1: Getting Back Across

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al basically just ride a train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter, I know! But I'm still really busy until the 19th, and I'm not done with what was meant to be Chapter 19, so I just posted part of it and split it up. Didn't want to miss my deadline!
> 
> This was beta'd by KateTheGoddess.
> 
> Enjoy!

Getting on the train back to Amestris was sad. They would have liked to have stayed for a while longer. They had gotten so used to Anos and Agape, it was almost like leaving Resembool for the first time. Looking at Ed, Alphonse can tell he’s troubled. They promised they’d write, of course, but it’s not the same.

Al looks out of the window and watches the scenery change. They’re going to make a stop in Rush Valley to get a new leg for Ed. The next stop is Drachma and they’re only making that mistake once. Al will have to face Winry. Somehow, he doesn’t feel as terrified of that prospect as he was last time. Maybe he can let go of her. He might not be able to have her, but she can’t have Ed, so if she lets him go, Al can move on.

Edward has fallen asleep by now, so Al decides to take up the correspondence with General Mustang that Ed stopped. He also writes to May. It’s time to move on.

\-----

“ _Ten minutes to Rush Valley. I repeat: Ten minutes to Rush Valley._ ”, that weird train voice says. Ed stretches and gets up to heave their luggage out of the rack. Al is fast asleep and he hates having to wake him. It’s been years now, but he still smiles whenever he sees his little brother doing things that he couldn’t in the armor.

Sighing, Ed pokes his brother on the arm. Bleary eyes look up at him before Al rubs his eyes and says: “We already there?”

“Yeah.”, Ed replies and it feels strange to speak their mother tongue again after so long.

“You gonna be okay, Al?”, he adds. If he could have spared Al the pain of seeing Winry again, he would have, but the stubborn pain in the butt wouldn’t have it.

“I’ll be fine, brother.”, Al replies with an honest smile and his _qi_ seems calm, so Ed lets it go.

“ _Approaching Rush Valley Station. Two minutes to Rush Valley Station._ ”, the train voice says, so they drag their suitcases to the doors as the train slows down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say for sure if I'll be able to upload on time next week. Last deadline is the 19th and that's the Monday. I haven't finished the next chapter yet, and can't guarantee I'll be able to by next Sunday. If I don't upload Sunday, I will do it very soon after, as I'll be freeeeeeeeeeeee(!!!!!!) finally.


	20. The Path to Drachma pt. 2: Rush Valley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al make it to Rush Valley and celebrate Al's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I am SO sorry I'm over a week late with this update (in my self imposed schedule, but still). Real life was stressful and this chapter was only like half written and I didn't want to split it again, so yeah.   
> This is currently unbeta'd since I didn't want to keep you waiting even longer, but if anything is super awful I'm gonna change this.
> 
> ENJOY!

Winry watches the train roll into the station and her anxiety mounts. The last time he saw those boys everything went so unbelievably wrong. She made Al upset and figured out that Ed would never want her. All in all, quite a disaster. It helped though. She can let go of Ed, now. She doubts Al will want her after all that happened, and she doesn’t know if she wants him either. Maybe she just isn’t meant to be an Elric. And maybe that’s fine.

A hand squeezes hers, bringing her attention back to the station. Looking to her right she sees Paninya smiling at her and motioning to the train. Winry follows her gaze and sees the brothers stepping onto the platform, waving at them. Ed’s hair reaches to his waist in his ponytail, making it nearly as long as her own. Alphonse has filled out well in the past few months, finally looking like a man his age. The younger Elric takes Ed’s suitcase in his hand while the latter crosses his arms indignantly. Al gives him a stern look and the older brother relents, slowly walking towards them. The slow pace confuses Winry, but then somebody bumps into Ed, who then winces, holding his stomach. Suspicious, Winry calls: “Ed! Have you gotten yourself hurt _again_?”

Ed frowns at her, but doesn’t shout back like she expected. Instead he says: “Yeah, but don’t worry, I’m just a little sore.”, and smiles. There’s a look in Al’s eyes that says there is more to that story, but she doesn’t ask. If Al won’t share, nothing she can say will change that. She’ll find out eventually, she always does.

“Don’t even think about it.”, Ed says, looking sharply at Paninya, who looks _way_ too innocent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”, she says, still too innocently, making Ed chuckle before saying: “Please, I can literally feel your mischievous intent. This is what you were going for, isn’t it?”

He holds up a small bracelet and hands it to her before explaining: “For the grumpy old man’s grandkid. We got it in Creta. It’s Alchemically enforced, so it won’t rust and shouldn’t break too easily.” Paninya grins widely and hugs first Ed, then Al. Somehow Winry feels jealous, but she’s not sure of whom exactly.

“So, why are you here? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you both, but Al said something about Drachma?”, Winry says, narrowing her eyes at Ed. She hasn’t forgotten about the last time they went north.

“Don’t look at me like that, Win. Yes, we’re going to Drachma and this time I made sure we come here first for the upgrade. I might be an idiot, but I _do_ learn from my mistakes.”, Ed reassures her.

“Fine. Let’s go back to the shop, then.”, she replies, feeling like maybe they can keep their friendship.

\-----

“Hey Ed.”, Winry says quietly while she’s working on Ed’s new leg. Edward looks up from his book to find her staring at her worktable like it holds all the answers in the world.

Curious as to why her _qi_ is quivering, he asks: “What is it, Winry?”

She doesn’t answer for a while and Ed’s about to go back to his book when she says: “It’s Al’s birthday tomorrow. I don’t know what to give him. I’ve been thinking for months now, and under normal circumstances, Al would be happy about anything, but now I feel like it has to be extra special to make up for the pain I caused him last time you guys were here.”

“I don’t think Al blames you for anything. Hell, he’s hurt someone that way too. I think the only thing you can do now is treat this birthday like all the others. I doubt he wants to constantly feel your guilt over something that isn’t your fault. Just make him all of his favorite food and give him a hug. That’s all he really needs. Besides, we’re going to Central soon and we’ll celebrate both of our birthdays there with our friends in Central. Mainly Mrs. Hughes and Elicia, I think. Everybody else is in Ishval. I think all he wants is to spend time with the people he cares about and eat a lot.”, Ed tells her, feeling her _qi_ relax. Finally. He’s been feeling her uncertainty all day.

“Hey Ed?”, she asks again, but this time she continues as soon as he looks back at her: “I’ve been working on something and I need your help to make it perfect.” He can feel her excitement and just smiles.

\-----

When Alphonse wakes up, the smell of apple pie lingers in his nose. He thought it was just a dream, but he won’t complain about the fact that it’s real. Looking around he can see that Ed is already up, which is surprising, as Al is usually the one to wake up his older brother.

Slightly confused, he gets up, and after finishing his morning routine he walks downstairs.

The smell of pie gets stronger the further down he goes and he suddenly remembers it’s his birthday. That explains the pie. He tries to walk the rest of the way as silently as humanly possible, but is reminded that Ed can sense him just fine without his ears when there’s a loud yell of “Happy Birthday!” from everybody.

The pie is held out to him by Winry, but the real gift is that her _qi_ is finally the way it used to be. Happy, not constantly shadowed by guilt or longing for his brother. They sit down at the table that is (mostly) cleared of Automail and gets little packages shoved at him from all sides.

Winry gives him a perfectly wrapped present which holds a perfect miniature replica of the armor that used to hold his soul. There is even a tiny Flamel on it. She must have worked hours on it, because when he pulls at the ‘hair’ – instructed by Winry –  after twisting the head a few times, it even walks around clapping its hands and pausing to put them on the ground as if it’s transmuting. What he doesn’t expect is that it actually transmutes tiny stairs, walks up them onto a tiny platform and bows. It then stands back up and becomes still again.

“How on _earth_ did you do that.”, he asks the figurine because he can’t take his eyes off it.

It’s Ed that replies: “So Winry built everything including the mechanism and I just added the necessary arrays. The walking and clapping was relatively simple from what Winry told me. You know the marching dolls with the drums and such? Same mechanism. What we added was that when you touch the head, you activate the array for the stairs, and when you then pull at the hair it sets off a reaction that transfers the transmutation to the surface it’s currently on. It’s a bit of a complicated process, with another array that detects the surface to get the right array and all that. I can show you exactly which arrays I used, if you want, but you can probably figure it out somehow by yourself.”

It’s complicated alright. Al’s pretty sure he’s never seen something so complicated as this would have to be. And on that scale as well. He hugs them both tightly and grins when he notices Ed put a really awfully wrapped package in his hand when he pulled away.

He opens it and inside is a silver pocket watch. The design of it is an exact copy of the State Alchemists’ watch, but instead of the military insignia, it’s a Flamel. Al opens the watch and would you look at that it actually works. But the real meaning behind it is that it has the same message in it as Ed’s used to. The only difference is the date. It now has the date of the Promised Day in it. He looks up at Ed to find him grinning, holding up an identical model.

“You know how I always kept that to remind myself what we lost and what we’re fighting for? I thought it was time we got some new ones with a date to remind us what we gained that day, and fight for that instead.”, Ed tells him. Al starts bawling like a child.

\----- 

Winry and Paninya walk the Elric brothers to the train station. Ed has his new leg, and he will probably never admit it to Winry – even though she knows already – but it was only done so quickly because they called ahead.

She’s sad they aren’t staying any longer, but she knows that Drachma is the last stop and then maybe they’ll finally stay still for a while.

She has stopped hoping that settling down meant staying with _her_ for Ed, and one day she might get over him, but for now she watches his retreating back and smiles to herself when she once again realizes that he’s taller than her now. It was quite a shock when she found him eating a sandwich in her room and then had to look up at him when they argued.

They wouldn’t have fit, no matter the circumstances. All they do is argue and no amount of love can make up for inherent incompatibility.

Both Elrics turn around once they get on the train and wave. When she waves back and smiles, it’s finally sincere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super happy with this chapter because it feels like a rush job, but I couldn't figure out what exactly was irking me, so I just left it. Also this chapter is a bit of a filler and next chapter will be way more exciting and include Roy and the team, Ed's birthday, and all that jazz. So I'll try to make it up to you guys with that.
> 
> I can't promise I'll be able to stick to my schedule, since none of this is prewritten anymore and I don't want to rush any important chapters and I was experiencing some writer's block at some point. This work is nearly done and then we can all move on to the really angsty work I have been planning since before I started uploading (this is just the prequel so buckle in for ultimate angst).
> 
> I'm rambling again. Sorry xD  
> See you next week probably!


	21. The Path to Drachma pt. 3: Central City and Stew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed's birthday at the Hughes' and some unexpected guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I am SO SO SOOO sorry this took me so long. This isn't even the whole chapter. This is missing the drunken juicy bits. I don't know why, but somehow, having nothing to do made my muse piss off to god knows where and I have been staring at a blank page since Christmas.  
> I will work on the rest (this was meant to be one big chapter not two smaller ones, but I felt kinda bad for leaving you guys hanging for so long, so I managed to get myself to actually write something that isn't complete crap (I hope)), I promise, but it might take me a while because I have no inspiration as to how exactly to go about writing this. My beta said she'll help me some time this week, so I expect you'll get the rest of this at some point soon.  
> While we're on the subject, this is still unbeta'd, so sorry for any mistakes, I just really wanted to get this uploaded.
> 
> Enjoy!

Meanwhile, in Ishval:

 

_Dear General Mustang,_

_I’m aware Ed hasn’t been keeping up correspondence. The last letter we sent was just about Aisha’s contact information. I do apologize for the long silence. I honestly just didn’t think about it, figuring Ed would have written you, but turns out he didn’t. Don’t know why I’m so surprised, to be honest. You know how he is._

_Anyway, figuring you might want to know what has been going on so far, I will give a brief summary._

_Transit to Creta was relatively simple. There’s a train going straight through the border. We also found somebody to teach us relatively easily, which is actually surprising. We went to a little café (it’s like a restaurant, just smaller and just for coffee and sometimes small snacks or pastries. Kind of like a diner just with more charm and better coffee.) and the owner, Anos, pointed us to the university so we could learn the language there. I don’t usually call myself a genius, but that course was so slow. We kind of just got Anos to teach us after that, since regular classes were out of the question. He taught us the Alchemy too. It’s for plants. Has some really cool features. There is one that you will be very interested in, but I’m afraid you’ll have to beg. Ed made me promise not to tell you what it is or how to use it. I have found a loophole, but you will have to wait for that too._

_It was very fun and very quiet. We worked at Anos’ café. Turns out Ed is awful at being a waiter. It was quite funny to watch._

_Anyway, so it was very nice there. Problem was, people are still very tense from the border war and don’t react well to Amestrians and one guy recognized us and tried to shoot Anos for helping us or something along those lines. Now comes the plot twist: Anos daughter, Agape, was in the Cretan military before happily retiring to civilian life. She one shot killed the guy. She could probably rival Major Hawkeye._

_They told us to leave Creta as soon as possible just so we won’t turn into the scapegoats for the whole fiasco, so now we’re on the train back home._

_Yes, you read right, General. We are coming home. For a bit at least. We’re going to make a stop at Rush Valley to get Ed some northern Automail, but after that we’re headed back to Central. Ed planned on just visiting for a short while to visit Mrs. Hughes and Elicia, but I thought you might be interested in knowing we will be in Amestris soon._

_Also our birthdays are coming up and I know Ed isn’t really one to celebrate, but I am, since I finally have a body that I can watch aging. It would be terribly lonely to celebrate without so many of our friends._

_If we stick to the plan, we should be there in about five days. I’m writing this on the train and won’t get to post it until we get to Rush Valley, so I expect it’s more like three days._

_Well, I hope you’re having a wonderful day._

_Sincerely,_

_Alphonse Elric_

 

Roy Mustang stares at the letter in his hands and tries very hard to hide the smile trying to show on his face. Hawkeye is in the room with him, having just delivered the letter to his desk, and has refused to leave.

“Major, it seems the Elrics will be in Central soon.”, Roy tells her. Her eyes are practically shining with mirth, but the rest of her face is impassive as she responds: “I have already taken the liberty of booking train tickets for everybody. We leave tomorrow at 1130 from Resembool Station.”

Roy stares at her. Then it clicks. “Alphonse has been writing to you regularly, hasn’t he.”, he states. He sighs. He should have known. She never seemed surprised when he told the team about the brothers’ escapades. She presses her lips together in an effort not to laugh at his face before answering: “Since the beginning, sir. It seems the departure was rather forced so I wasn’t informed about their arrival in Central much earlier than you were. I booked the tickets before coming to see you.”

The General feels slightly betrayed and it must show on his face because she continues: “Whenever you get a letter from them you don’t get any work done afterwards. Seeing as you will be missing enough paperwork in Central, I thought it important to make sure you get as much done as possible before we leave.”

“You, Riza, are a slave driver.”, Roy replies without any venom. She’s right. Of course she is. He always worries so much whenever he gets a letter because every single one of them hints that they got into trouble. He knows it’s not their fault, but he worries.

“Yes, sir. Now stop worrying and get back to work, or I _will_ make you stay here while we all go see Ed and Al.”, she tells him. Roy groans and says: “I hate you.”

“No you don’t, Roy.”, is her response before she leaves the room.

\----- 

“Central City. God it feels like an eternity since I’ve been here.”, Ed says to nobody in particular. As is his habit, Al answers anyway: “That’s because it’s been _years_ , brother. Two, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I know. But it feels like it’s been even longer. The atmosphere is so different. People seem so much happier now. I guess the last time we were here it hadn’t sunk in yet for most people. I mean just look around you. There’s kids playing outside, people smiling at soldiers. There’s also a lot fewer soldiers now that I think about it.”, Ed replies.

Al looks and he sees Ed’s right. They’re walking along one of the bigger streets in Central, with a park on their right and houses on the left. There used to be one soldier for every five civilians when Ed started in the military, one soldier for every three civilians when the Promised Day was close, and now there are so few it gets hard to count how many there are in comparison to the citizens. One for every twenty, if even. Al even sees one young soldier helping an old lady across the street. It brings a smile to his face as they walk to Mrs. Hughes’. They’re close now, only two blocks away. He can’t wait to see the look an Ed’s face when it’s not just Mrs. Hughes and Elicia in there. He can’t know for sure, but he’s relatively sure the not so subtle hints he sent to the Major ensured that the team would be there.

 

When they get to the house, Al can see subtly parked military vehicles and knows he’s right. He hopes Ed doesn’t notice, but it’s unlikely that he will. Seeing military vehicles everywhere used to be normal and Ed hasn’t gotten used to the changes yet. Neither has Al, of course, but he specifically looked to see if the team was there. He grins as he knocks on the door. Ed looks sideways at him as if he’s lost his mind, while subtly letting his favorite knife fall from his wrist guard.

It suddenly occurs to Al that Ed would have felt the _qi_ of multiple people in that house. Al feels it, of course, but he was expecting it and didn’t think to warn everybody about that. He feels like smacking his hand on his forehead, but refrains because it would make absolutely no difference at this point.

Ed groans when he realizes the intent in the _qi_ from every single person in that house. He scowls deeply and says: “This is a surprise party, isn’t it.”, before slipping the knife back up his sleeve.

Al is about to open his mouth to respond – though he doesn’t know what he could possibly say to that obvious oversight of his – when the door opens to reveal Mrs. Hughes. She opens her mouth to say something along the lines of ‘Elicia is in the living room’ when she sees Ed’s scowl and Al’s disappointed head shake and instead says: “At least act surprised? Elicia will be devastated otherwise.”

Which was the exact right thing to say because nothing else could have possibly made Ed even _attempt_ to act like he didn’t know about the not-so-surprising-surprise-party. He huffs, but nods. Mrs. Hughes smiles warmly and says, rather loudly: “Hello boys! Elicia is in the living room, if you want to go say hello.”

Ed doesn’t even pretend to respond and just walks towards the closed living room door with an expression that shows he’s irritated, but trying not to be. Usually, he would open the door slowly and quietly, as not to startle Elicia – which they were kind of banking on – but this time he bangs the door open – but not too hard, just in case somebody was standing there – and looks almost convincingly surprised at the multiple shouts of ‘ _Surprise!_ ’ and confetti raining down on him.

Ed scowls comically and rounds on his brother: “You knew about this.” Al starts laughing at the expression on his brother’s face and nods, which just makes Ed scowl deeper. “I didn’t know about the confetti.”, Al amends, trying to stop giggling.

“That’s because that was _my_ idea!”, comes a voice from across the room. Elicia is standing there grinning smugly, making even Ed loosen up. It was good they kept up the charade because her expression is priceless.

“I hate all of you.”, Ed says, without any venom whatsoever.

\-----

Roy sees Ed’s face and posture and immediately thinks ‘ _he knows_ ’. He acts surprised and angry and the General is relatively sure the surprise, at least, is only for Elicia’s sake. Roy looks at Al instead, noticing the irritation in his frame as well and wonders what exactly transpired to have Alphonse looking so dissatisfied and Ed knowing about the surprise party they had planned so carefully.

Roy walks up to Ed and under the guise of picking confetti out of his hair – when in reality he just really wanted to touch Ed after a year apart and next to no communication with the man – quietly asks him: “How did you know?”

Edward doesn’t swat his hands away, which is a very good sign, and replies by lifting an eyebrow and saying: “I can’t believe none of you thought of the fact that I can literally feel that there are more than the intended _two_ people in this house.”

Roy could hit himself. He looks over at Alphonse – his hands still tangled in Ed’s hair, even though the confetti are gone, but nobody seems to have the heart to tell him – and realizes what the irritation in Al was. The younger Elric should have remembered that handy little fact – they all should have – and is berating himself for not realizing it sooner.

Reluctantly removing himself from Ed’s locks – and isn’t that just a metaphor – he turns to Al and says: “None of us remembered, don’t beat yourself up over it. Besides, a surprise is a surprise and this one was just a few seconds early.”

Al smiles slightly and replies: “Yes, I know. Also, it’s probably not such a bad thing, seeing as the first thing Ed did when sensing you guys was getting his favorite knife out. He put it back pretty much immediately because he realized who it was and what they were feeling, but imagine his reaction to being shouted at unexpectedly by multiple people.”

Roy shudders slightly, remembering Ed’s instinct of explode things and think later, and nods.

“Everyone, and especially Ed, dinner is ready.”, Gracia’s voice calls from the kitchen and a lovely smell drifts in from the hallway. Ed is gone in a heartbeat, and when Roy turns back to look at Al, he bemusedly notices the younger brother has vanished as well.

It isn’t until he sees them both looking extremely happy over a meal he hasn’t ever seen cooked quite like that, that it occurs to him. This stew must be Aisha’s recipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had to rewrite this three times because I kept making stupid context mistakes, like forgetting that in this verse Ed and Al can sense qi, so if there is anything super illogical please do point it out to me!  
> Interestingly, the first draft had Ed actually go all Alchemy crazy on everybody's asses when they surprised him so I left a little cookie in there for my own amusement. 
> 
> Comments give me life, so please help me motivate my muse into spitting out something vaguely artistic!
> 
> PS: if anybody is in any way confused, Aisha is the Ishvalan woman we met in Aerugo.


	22. The Path to Drachma pt. 4: Central City and Birthday Parties (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elicia, Ed and Al's birthdays - part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys I'm sooooooooooo sorry I've been absent for so long. Real life is hard. My muse took a vacation and then I was so stressed about other things I couldn't get anything done.  
> I'm still super stressed, so I can't guarantee that I'll update again any time soon. This chapter isn't even done actually, but I thought I could at least upload part of it, since it's a super long chapter anyway.  
> I also wanted to tell you that none of my works are in any way abandoned, I just haven't gotten around to finishing them yet. I will, eventually. Summer holidays are gonna be a whole lot of writing - I'm going to my fav most creative spot.  
> Again super sorry, I'll try to be better!
> 
> This is still unbeta'd, might upload it again, but corrected.

Dinner was for big brothers Ed and Al, but dessert is for Elicia. Mama made her favorite: anything with chocolate in it. Uncle Roy called it ‘chocolate fudge cake’, but Elicia doesn’t really care what else is in there. She’s not picky.

All of her favorite people are here and she basks in the adults’ attention as they shower her with presents. Her big brothers give her a bunch of circles she recognizes as Alchemy, though she doesn’t understand what they do until they each touch their hands to one and construct two wooden figurines. A pony and a dragon.

“It’s a mustang.”, big brother Ed says, snickering, making uncle Roy scowl. Elicia doesn’t understand the joke, but the others must, because they’re all trying to hide their smiles with varying degrees of success.

She also gets a very elaborate dollhouse that looks just like her home. It’s beautiful and she tells uncle Roy as much. Once every gift is unwrapped, she has an entirely new assortment of stuffed animals and other playthings.

Elicia is sad when Mama announces that it’s time to go to bed because now everyone is leaving. They say they’ll be back, and she knows they mean it, but she no longer trusts that they will. Not after Daddy. Still, it’s her birthday and that means she will enjoy herself no matter what. Besides, Mama will stay up with her for a little while longer. But everybody else needs to sleep too, so she lets them go, waving at them from the doorway.

\-----

“So, boss, where to next?”, Jean says, just to see Ed’s reaction. As expected, the young man startles at the nickname and then scowls at him.

“Should you really still be calling me ‘boss’? I’m a civilian now. It makes even less sense than it used to!”, Ed tells him. Clearly he doesn’t know what the real reason was that he started calling him that. Heymans knows, though, so he interjects: “No, Ed, it makes even more sense now. It’s because the Chief listens to you. Now even more than when you were a runt -”

“Heeeeey.”, Ed interrupts, as expected, though not nearly as explosive as in the past. “- well you were a runt, Ed. But that’s beside the point. If the Chief listens to you, you’re the Boss.”

Edward considers this for a second before replying: “Then why don’t you call Hawkeye boss? I mean, clearly she’s got Mustang whipped.”

Havoc snickers, but answers: “Well, no. See, he listens to her because she threatens him with getting shot. But he does whatever he wants, if he thinks he can get away with it. He listens to _you_ because he likes you.” Ed blushes, which is truly adorable because he’s so innocent in this, even though he’s capable of killing just about everybody, including a homunculus with the power of God, if Jean remembers correctly.

That’s the moment the Chief decides to contribute to the conversation: “It has nothing to do with liking anyone. I’m just more scared of a painful death at the hands of Ed. With Riza at least it will be quick.” Though he looks slightly embarrassed because, clearly, the reason he listens to the Boss more than he does Hawkeye, is because he wants to impress his crush. Even Jean knows. It’s that hopeless.

Ed scoffs and says: “Why should I bother slowly killing you for being an idiot? Al will gladly do it for me. Right, little brother?” The General stiffens dramatically when Ed claps his brother on the shoulder, who gives Roy his best terrifying smile. Jean shudders to think what a shovel talk from an Elric must be like.

Major Hawkeye clears her throat – and oh dear, she and Alphonse are really good friends, poor Chief – and says: “Boys, we still haven’t decided where we’re going.”

\-----

They ended up at Madam Christmas’. They considered getting a booth, but with the amount of people they were, it would have been a bit _too_ cozy. Roy wouldn’t have complained, he would have liked to have an excuse to sit close to Ed, their thighs touching, hands only millimeters apart – “Roy?”, Riza’s voice snapped him out of his daydream. “Yes, sorry. Yeah let’s get that table. Should be less cramped.”, he replies. He doesn’t miss the way her eyebrows lift knowingly. Havoc is snickering, Alphonse is shaking his head exasperatedly, and Ed looks confused as to why everyone is acting so strangely. Good lord, even Havoc noticed.

As they sit down he notices Ed and Al having a silent conversation before Ed huffs and all but falls into the chair next to Roy. Not a great sign, but he’s determined to talk to Ed, so he gives him his most charming smile. The young blonde just raises one eyebrow at him, so Roy gives him a real smile and says: “Happy birthday, Ed.” The honest smile seems to work much better – and Roy will remember that for the future – because the young man actually smiles back this time.

The Madam herself comes over to take their orders and quietly says to Roy: “Why don’t you come help me.” The General gets up and follows his aunt behind the bar.

“So Roy-boy. How’s it going with your little angel.”, she asks him. Roy tries hard not to drop the bottle of liquor he’s holding and replies: “I should never have told you that I thought he was sent from on high to test my patience.” She laughs at him and says: “Probably not, no. You didn’t answer my question.”

Roy thinks about that for a bit before replying: “I don’t know. He’s trying so hard to push me away. I thought maybe he just isn’t all that into me, but that’s not it. Not sure what it actually _is_ , but sometimes he flirts with me and then just suddenly stops and runs away. It’s really quite infuriating. I feel like a teenager with my first crush again.”

\----- 

Ed decidedly doesn’t watch Roy. He’s talking to Sheska about books. Sadly, he’s capable of doing so while feeling Roy’s and Madam Christmas’ _qi_ ’s shifting. They’re talking about him and he can feel it. So can Al, which is why he’s snickering and whispering to Hawkeye, while Miles just looks at her with more warmth than he thought the man capable.

Eventually he can feel Roy coming back to the table behind him. “I hope I don’t drop all of this, I forgot how hard it is to carry drink trays.”, the older man says, making Al snort and add: “Just don’t give it to Ed, he’s useless.” While Al’s not _wrong_ , he says: “Hey, I got better.”

Now everyone is laughing at him, but he doesn’t really mind. He really _is_ terrible with drink trays.

“Presents!”, Al says after everyone has gotten themselves back together. Ed wasn’t expecting any gifts. Getting mom’s stew is absolutely enough. Everybody else seems to think it isn’t enough, so he gets wrapped packages shoved at him from all sides. He picks one at random and tears it open. He rips open present after present, most of which are books or weapons – really, they know him too well – when only two are left. Al didn’t add his until the very end and the other must be Roy’s because he’s nudging it at him now.

With a bit of a feeling of trepidation he opens Roy’s. It’s two first editions of books he didn’t even know existed anymore. Without thinking first, he hugs Roy, who stiffens slightly in surprise before hugging him back. “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for copies of these. I thought the last of them burned down in our house.”, Ed says to the older man when lets him go. Then he notices the blush slowly rising in Roy’s cheeks and quickly sits back down in his chair. Clearing his throat, he opens Al’s present. It’s a photo album, the pictures containing everyone they have ever met and remotely liked. It even has the Chimeras in there and all of their new friends from their travels. There’s even Mr. Dominic doting on his grandkid. Mr. Hughes standing with his arm around Roy, fresh from the academy. Mom with a swollen belly and Hohenheim laying a hand on it. He hasn’t felt this close to tears since Al gave his soul back to the gate.

“How… How did you get all these?”, Ed asks his brother, who replies: “I wrote to everyone I know if they have pictures. Took quite a while, but I think there’s enough in there for now.”

Ed laughs and says: “I’m sure even Hughes would be jealous.” Roy looks sad for a second before proclaiming: “Al’s turn!”


	23. The Path to Drachma pt. 4: Central City and Birthday Parties (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al gets some presents, Ed and Roy have an important conversation, Al and Riza are frustrated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeeeeey guys.  
> Sorry I've been a bit shit about uploading, my muse left me. I am at the beach now for two weeks and will try to get this work done, but I will make no promises. FMABB17 is also under way and I need to finish that work too (It's for the WLHLY series, so feel free to check that out when it goes up), and RoyEd week is coming up (20.-26.8.) and I wanna write stuff for that too.  
> I also got a new job (yay!) next to the Masters I'm starting in September, so I might be a bit busy then too... yikes.  
> I promise to do my best! Be patient with me, none of my works are abandoned, they'll just take a bit to be finished.
> 
> This is unbeta'd.  
> Enjoy!

Alphonse got a plethora of gifts, most of them books like Ed’s, though Armstrong sent along a drawn portrait – _a skill handed down through the Armstrong family for generations_ – of Roy’s entire team, Ed, Al, Elicia, Gracia, and Alex himself, which was truly a marvelous gift. Roy couldn’t repeat the kitten trick he did last time, and after being told by Riza that he can’t get Alphonse an actual kitten, since the Elrics are travelling around, he had been completely stumped. Then it hit him. Alphonse always kept up correspondence with everybody he has ever met, and post was so slow from Drachma. So, he gave Alphonse a few new pens and a whole lot of paper complete with envelopes, and a Drachman carrier hawk, specifically bred to carry letters to and from remote, icy places. He had told Alphonse that the hawk was waiting for him in Briggs, since the bird would not take well to staying still in one place for too long, and there it had plenty of space to fly around. Thankfully, Alphonse was delighted.

Ed had clearly already given Alphonse his present because the younger Elric thanked everybody and then asked if anyone wanted to play a game of poker against him. Some people clearly had already forgotten that the young man would know exactly how good your cards are, something Roy didn’t point out to them, instead tapping Ed’s shoulder and nodding towards the bar.

Which is how he found himself in his current situation. Ed silently nursing his beer, determinedly not looking at Roy, while Roy is drinking his whiskey far too quickly and trying to get Ed to speak to him by out-stubborning him, which tends to work about 60% of the time. This is not one of those times.

“Ed.”, Roy starts, and Ed actually looks at him now and says: “Roy.”, without emotion. Not for the first time he envies the Elric’s ability to read _qi_. He does the next best thing and just keeps talking: “What is it that is making you push me away like this? Is it something I’m doing or something else entirely? Because I actually quite like you, and I thought you might be returning that sentiment, but then you always leave. Tell me what I can do to make you come back. Please?” He’s desperate, and he sounds it. He knows that, but this is the first good thing he has ever found himself wanting. Ed’s the first person to lessen the pain of Maes’ passing. He can’t lose him too.

Ed sighs, and responds: “Roy, I’m doing this for your own good. I’m not very good at staying in one place. I’ll be gone all the time and you’d be stuck waiting for me. You wouldn’t be able to date. I don’t want you to resent me for never being there. I don’t want to be like my father.”

_So that’s it_ , Roy thinks. Hohenheim made a family and then left them, for a good reason, but left them nonetheless. “This is different, Ed. I’m not asking for a family, or a white picket fence. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance and that you come back to me eventually. You’re not your father. You would come to my funeral, you would stay in touch, you’d at least come home every once in a while. And you wouldn’t bring children into the world only to disappear without a trace.”, Roy tells Ed, who looks pained at the mention of a funeral.

“I don’t want you to be stuck with someone who’s never there. Besides, I’m pretty sure we’d strangle each other after a day. I don’t think I’m whole enough to give any part of me to you.”, Ed replies, speaking to his beer more than to Roy, who says: “I can live without being stuck to your side every second of every day. I still have goals of my own, Ed. I’m an adult, I can handle being alone. Hell, I’ve been alone most of my life. Also, I would give us a week before we’re at each other’s throats, at least. But Ed, maybe two broken things can make a whole one. Just think about it. Please? You’re gonna be gone for a while now, right? So you have time. Don’t think about what this would mean for me, I’m a grown man, I can make my own decisions. Think about whether or not _you_ want this.”

Ed laughs halfheartedly and replies: “Whether or not I want this isn’t something I have to think about, Roy. I can’t ignore my conscience. How this would affect you is something I can’t just disregard. I promise, I’ll think about it, but I can’t make promises.”

“I’ll take what I can get. All I want is a chance. If it doesn’t work, well, then we’ll know. But I for one, _need_ to know.”, Roy says. Playing on Ed’s desire to know everything might be a bit of a cheap trick, but all’s fair in love and war, even though Roy disagrees with half of that statement.

“I hate when you have good points.”, Ed grumbles, making Roy laugh.

\-----

“Riza, this is killing me.”, Al tells the Major. They have both been watching Ed and Mustang talking – or Mustang pleading and Ed grudgingly agreeing – and it’s infuriating. “Do you think they’ll ever figure out that there’s nobody better out there for them?”, Riza remarks.

Al replies: “Who knows. The only person able to keep up with brother is Winry, but that would most likely crash and burn when Ed’s wanderlust kicks in. And the General might have been happy with you, if both of you hadn’t gone to find somebody else.”

Riza smiles slightly and says: “If only childhood best friends turning into the picture perfect couple worked out every time. Although neither of us would have considered that course of action. Roy needs somebody who keeps him grounded, but distracts him from the military. I can’t do that for him, and honestly, it would be strange, I think. He’s like a brother to me. I love him with all my heart, but I don’t think I’d be able to be in a relationship with him. I think he could have had something with Maes, had the man not been completely straight and irrevocably in love with his future wife.”

Al hums in agreement, watching Roy laugh at something Ed says with a scowl. He realizes Riza’s statement about childhood best friends is true for him as well. He would have been so happy to be that picture perfect couple with Winry, but alas, she wanted Ed and when she couldn’t have him she wanted Paninya instead. Al stopped wanting Winry sometime between realizing he would have been her second choice and missing May, hitting himself for being such an idiot. He had been her first choice, but she hadn’t been his, even though she should have been. All he can do now is hope she gives him a second chance now that there is no question or choice.

\-----

“Roy.”, Ed says after he let the man turn to leave at the train station he had been kind enough to give them a lift to. Roy turns around with a question in his eyes, which turns into astonishment when Ed starts jogging towards him.

“We’ll be back home after Drachma. We haven’t made plans on where to go after that, so, maybe then we can talk about this more?”, Ed continues. Roy smiles, and Ed can’t resist, so he gives Roy a quick peck on the lips, which turns into a very long peck that doesn’t really qualify as a peck anymore, before catching himself and drawing away, saying: “I can’t give you an answer, but I wanted to this once. Goodbye, Roy. For now at least.”

**Author's Note:**

> I will be updating this every week (probably), although it's not completely done yet.  
> So yeah, see you next week!


End file.
